Autumn Song
by Yuurichi
Summary: What if Orochimaru never gave Sasuke the cursemark, but instead gave it to a young girl, whose clan's history began with the intention of war and destruction? How would things be different? You're just going to have to read to find out. AU OCxNaruto
1. Chapter 1

_**AUTUMN SONG**_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

"Kaori! I'm leaving to go to the store!" announces twelve-year-old, Urumi Makura to her nine-year-old sister as she slips on her shoes at the front door of their apartment in Konohagkure. Kaori climbs down from the couch in the living room and rushes over to her sister.

"I wanna come too!" she demands as Urumi smiles and hands the girl her shoes.

"Alright, but you have to remember to stay close to me." she advises as she opens the door to the apartment and heads into town.

"Urumi! There's balloons outside!" cooes Kaori as a man pushing a cart of balloons walks by the store.

"I'll get you one later, but we have to buy groceries so we can eat something else other than ramen tonight." Urumi sighs as she walks over to the produce aisle of the store.

" But I wanna balloon now..." Kaori whines and wanders around the shop while her sister rummages through a basket of apples.

As she does, a man comes up from behind her and steals her wallet from the pouch hanging off her hip. She accidentally elbows him in the stomach when she reaches out for a bag and he falls to the floor. She turns to apologize and he scurries to his feet. Urumi notices the familiar looking, orange and sky blue, panda-shaped coin purse in his hand.

"Hey! That's my wallet! Give it back!" she scolds as he runs off. She chases him out the store and down the street.

"I've gotta lose this brat!" the thief huffs as he weasels his way through a massive crowd. Urumi ricochets off of building to building to avoid getting mixed up in the crowd. The thief bursts out of the mob and jets towards the woods. Urumi jumps off the roof of a bakery and glinds through the air after him.

"Get back here with my wallet, you scumbag!" she screams as he disappears through the trees.

"What's all that noise? I wonder what's going on..." yawns twelve-year-old, Naruto Uzumaki as he wakes up from his nap in the woods. He had been here all afternoon training until he fell asleep. He dusts off his coral and blue jumpsuit as he rises from the grassy ground.

The thief bumps into Naruto when he emerges from the nearby bushes. "Give me back my wallet!" shouts Urumi as she follows the trail to the clearing where Naruto and the thief were.

"So you're a thief, huh?" puffs Naruto as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"What's it to you, pipsqeak?" he scoffs as Naruto performs a series of handsigns.

"I'll teach you to steal from me!" Urumi grunts, emerging from the bushes with her hands balled into fists.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" cries Naruto as he clones himself three times. Urumi freezes dead in her tracks as she watches the blonde and his clones beat the snot out of the thief.

"_I remember him from school_... _Where did he learn such an advanced jutsu like that_?" thinks Urumi as Naruto pries the wallet from the thief's hand. He chuckles and walks over to her as he holds out it out to the stunned girl.

"I guess this is your's..." he smiles as his piercing, blue eyes glimmer under the sun beaming through the leaves of the towering trees. She hesitantly takes the coin purse and drops it back into the pouch on her hip.

"Thanks, I appreciate your help." Urumi says, walking over to the thief slowly crawling away.

"I gave you back your wallet! What else do you want from me?!" he sqeals as she hovers over him with a scowl on her peach-colored face. Urumi drives her foot into the back of his head and stomps on it repeatedly.

"If I ever see you again it'll be to kill you! You understand that?!" she threatens as Naruto watches in astonishment.

"_What a bad temper_..." he thinks as she kicks the thief to the other side of the clearing. Urumi pulls down on her teal, short sleeved shirt under her sleeveless, fishnet halfshirt and turns to Naruto as the thief disappears through the bushes.

"I'm Urumi Makura bytheway." she announces as he laces his hands together behind his head and smiles broadly. "Yeah, I know. We're in the same class. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." he chuckles as the girl returns the kind gesture.

"Yeah, that name does sound familiar... Aren't you the one that's always goofing off during class?" she asks as she plants her hands on her hips. "I'm surprised I'm actually being noticed..." sighs Naruto as silence sweeps over them.

Suddenly, Urumi's jade green eyes widen as she looks around frantically. "Where'd Kaori go?! She's probably wandered off by herself by now!" she cries as she turns to leave.

"Do you need help finding her?" asks the blonde as she looks back over her shoulder. "No, I've troubled you enough already for today! See you later!" she calls back as she disappears through the bushes and runs back into town. Naruto sighs and leans back against a nearby tree until his stomach gurgles to life.

"I guess I should get goin' too... I'm starving!" he thinks aloud as he pushes himself off the trunk and walks into town.

...

"Where is she? Where is she? Where is _she_??" panicks Urumi as she races around the grocery store trying to find her sister. Meanwhile, Kaori was out stalking the balloon man.

"Because you're so cute, I'll give you a balloon for free. How does that sound?" the balloon man says with a smile as he hands her a yellow and green striped balloon.

"Thanks Mr. Balloon Man!" she cheers as he waves and walks away. Now alone, Kaori looks around for her older sister. She was about three blocks away from the grocery store, but luckily she knew her way around town.

By this time, Urumi had left the store and was over by the sauna asking people if they've seen her sister anywhere.

Naruto walks past the grocery store to get to the ramen shop and notices a little girl with mahagany hair in low-set pigtails sitting on the curb in front of the store crying. Naruto glances down the road in the direction of Ichiraku's, then back to the helpless girl. His stomach growls and he sighs just before heading over to help her.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Naruto asks the girl, kneeling down next to her. She rubs her dark brown eyes and looks up at him. "I can't find my sister anywhere..." she sniffles as something clicks in Naruto's brain.

"Your name must be Kaori." he states as the young girl's eyes widen in surprise. She nods hesitantly and wipes away the tears still streaming down her face.

"How do you know my name? I've never seen you before..." she asks as Naruto stands.

"I know your sister, Urumi. Do you want me to help you find her?" he answers as she grabs his hand and smiles brightly.

...

"I'll never find her at this rate..." sighs Urumi, resting in one of the stools at Ichiraku's ramen shop.

"Mister! Mister! I see her!" chants Kaori as they walk past the ramen shop. "C'mon, I'll walk you over there." Naruto says, just before crossing the street.

"Hey, Urumi. It's nice seeing you again." he greets as Urumi looks warily over her shoulder to see Naruto standing behind her. She raises an eyebrow and turns completely around to face him.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asks, pushing her fingers through her long, auburn hair.

"I think I found something that belongs to you..." he chuckles as Kaori jumps out from behind him and hops into Urumi's lap.

"We found you!" she cheers as a smile illuminates Urumi's face. She sighs in relief and hugs the younger Makura in her arms lovingly.

"Thank you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!" she chuckles as Naruto sits next to her.

"No biggy!" he grins as the man behind the counter approaches them.

"Are you kids going to order something or not?" he asks as Urumi's mouth gaps open. "I forgot all about dinner! It's already past seven o'clock and all the stores are about to close for the night! What am I gonna do?" she panicks as Naruto pulls out his frog-shaped wallet and sets it on the counter.

"Well, I could treat you guys to some ramen if you'd like." he offers as Urumi flashes him a humble grin.

"_I guess it won't kill me to have ramen for one more night_..." she thinks to herself as Naruto orders the meals.

They talk and eat ramen for hours until Kaori falls asleep in Urumi's lap.

"Hey, I'm getting ready to close up shop. You kids should be heading home." announces the man at the counter.

"I guess that's our cue to leave." chuckles Naruto as Urumi smiles and hoists the slumbering child into her arms.

"Yeah, you're right. We should get going. Thanks for everything Naruto." she says as he leaves the money for the check on the counter next to the stack of empty bowls he ate from.

"I told you already. It's not a big deal." he smiles as he laces his hands together behind his head again as they walk down the street side by side.

"Yeah, it is..." she laments as Naruto's bright eyes widen and gazes at the girl walking along side him.

"What do you mean?" he asks as she turns a corner and walks into a shrine for her clan.

"My entire clan was destroyed in the Great War by the Nine-Tailed Fox demon. My mother told me that my father died in the war along with the rest of the clan. She also said that she tried to make him stay, but he said that fighting was in the blood of the Makura's and that if he didn't fight he'd disgrace the entire Makura name. At the time, she was pregnant with Kaori and I was three years old. We had to move out of our house and into the apartment we live in now because my mother wasn't making enough money at her job to keep it. Two years ago she died of an illness she had been keeping secret from us, and now Kaori and I are the only ones left." Urumi explains, kneeling down at the large alter in the back of the room and lights a couple of candles with a lighter sitting next to a vase of flowers.

As she lights the candles, the room begins to glow a dim gold and a flag hanging up on the wall behind the alter emerges from the darkness. On the flag was her clan's emblem, which was a cirlcle in the shape of a yinyang with a light gray and navy blue side. Urumi bows her head in a moment of silence, then stands to face Naruto, who was now holding Kaori.

"Do you come here every night?" Naruto asks after a cold silence engulfs the shrine. "Yeah, I usually come here at night when Kaori's asleep because she cries when she comes here." Urumi answers as Naruto hands the nine-year-old back to her.

"I'm sorry about your lose." he apologizes as they leave the shrine. "You don't have to apologize. It's not like it's your fault." she comforts as Naruto lowers his head.

"_Her clan was killed by the fox demon that is now sealed within me. I know that I had nothing to do with their deaths, but I still feel guilty about it..._" he thinks to himself as she lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asks as he lifts his head and nods. He rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks tinting a light pink.

"Yeah, I was just thinking, that's all. Don't worry about it." he assures her as they approach the apartments. She smiles and unlocks the door.

"Thanks for walking me home, but you really didn't have to, you know?" she says as he pulls out his key from his pocket.

"Well, actually, I wasn't. I live here too." he chuckles as he unlocks the door next to Urumi's.

"You live next door to me and we're in the same class- I think we were destined to be friends, don't you think so?" she asks as Naruto grins his infamous, goofy grin.

"Yeah, I do..." he agrees, a hint of sadness hidden in his voice.

"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow then." she says as he waves before watching her head inside.

Naruto inhales deeply and enters his own apartment. He drops his keys and kicks off his shoes before flopping onto his bed.

"_There's so many lives that were taken because of the Nine-Tailed Fox and now I have to live with the hatred that everyone has against this beast. I just hope she doesn't turn against me like everyone else..."_


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER 2**_

Urumi's alarm clock rings the next morning and she slaps at the air until she hits the button to turn it off. She turns over under her covers and falls back to sleep. She went back to her clan's shrine in the middle of the night and didn't come back until early this morning.

While she slept, Kaori ate breakfast and got herself dressed. About fifteen minutes after Urumi was suppost to wake up, Naruto knocks on the door. Kaori peaks into her older sister's room. Urumi was still sound asleep. Kaori then scurries to the door and opens it.

"Hey, Kaori! Is Urumi ready yet?" he asks as the young girl narrows her dark eyes at him.

"Why do you wanna know?" she asks as he blushes bright red. He combs his fingers through his spiky, blonde hair.

"I just wanted to know... if she wanted to walk to school with me." he stammers as Kaori giggles at how red his face was.

"You look funny!" she remarks as he snorts in frustration.

"Can you just go get Urumi for me?" he grunts as the girl grabs his hand and drags him inside. "She's still asleep, so you have to be _quiet_." she announces as Naruto sits on the dark gray couch in the living room. Kaori swings open the door to Urumi's bedroom and jumps up and down on her bed.

Urumi screams in fright and falls out of the bed with a loud _thud_. Naruto hears her and rushes to the door. When he gets there, Urumi was chasing Kaori around the room in anger.

"What was the point of telling me to be quiet if you were just going to do that?" he asks as Urumi freezes.

"Naruto... What are you doing here?" she asks as he blushes again.

"I just came to ask if we could walk to school together today." he explains as she turns around to look at the time. Her jaw drops. She only had fifteen minutes to get ready before classes started.

"Kaori! If you were up, why didn't you wake me!" she shrieks as Kaori sighs.

"You told me not to wake you up unless it was an emergency." she recalls as Urumi growls in rage. "I told you that because you kept waking me up at three in the morning to make you waffles!" she corrects as Naruto looks at the clock.

"Urumi, you only have thirteen minutes left to get ready. I don't think this is the time for arguing." he states as her eyes widen. "You're right! I'll be out in a minute! Just wait for me in the living room!" she agrees as Naruto and Kaori sit on the couch.

Urumi runs into her closet and pulls out a pair of black capris, a teal shirt, and a fishnet half shirt. She slips out of the sweatpants and t-shirt she was wearing and pulls on the clothes from the closet. She walks over to the dresser by the door and picks up a red ribbon and laces it through her long, auburn hair. She ties the back into a bow and opens the door.

"Naruto, you should go while you still have time. I'll catch up with you later." she says as she walks over to the bathroom. Naruto stands from the couch and follows.

"Why can't I just stay and wait for you?" he asks as she pulls out her toothbrush and wets it under the running water from the faucet. "If you stay, you'll be late because of me, and I don't want that to happen." she explains as she digs around through the drawers for the toothpaste.

"Fine, I'll go, but you better hurry up." he says as he runs down the hall and out the front door.

After he leaves, Urumi brushes her teeth and tightens the tape wrapped around both of her forearms before heading out behind him. She has four minutes until class starts and she wasn't even close to the school building yet. She flies from rooftop to rooftop instead of pounding the pavement to save herself time.

When she finally reaches the school, classes were about three minutes into their lessons. She bursts into class panting wildly. Iruka-sensei looks up from the attendance folder to see her walking over to her seat in the second row in front of Naruto.

"Nice of you to join us, Urumi." Iruka says as she sinks into her chair in embarrassment. Her classmates quiet jeer and snicker behind her back. The man sitting at the desk in the front of the room closes the folder and slaps it on the desk in front of him.

"Urumi! Why were you late?" asks the girl sitting next to her, Sakura Haruno. "I overslept..." she chuckles as Sakura sighs. "Again? This is the third time this week!" she remarks as Urumi lowers her head. "I know. I was busy with something very important last night, and didn't go to sleep until early this morning..." Urumi explains as Iruka stands at the front of the classroom.

"Alright, as you all know, today is Orientation Day." he announces as Urumi slaps her forehead.

"_I forgot all about the orientations_! _I hope I don't screw this up_!" she thinks as the class stands in a line across the front of the room.

"Urumi, since you feel that you're so special today; why don't you go first?" Iruka retorts as Urumi steps forward.

"So, uh, what do I have to do again?" she asks as everyone sighs heavily.

"Your almost as scatterbrained as Naruto! What's up with you today?" comments Kiba Inuzuka as his dog, Akamaru chimes in with a bark. Urumi snorts at the insult towards her friend, and turns to the boy to tell him off when Iruka clears his throat.

"I told you this at the begining of the week, Urumi! I want you to transform into Lord Hokage!" he scolds as Urumi looks around at all the glaring eyes of her classmates.

Urumi groans and frowns. "_I've been so busy at my clan's shrine, I haven't been able to do any studying. Everything's been so complicated since my mom's death, I've been too busy to do anything..."_

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath as she preforms the handsigns for the Transformation jutsu. "Transform!" she cries as she's engulfed by a cloud of smoke.

When the smoke clears, an old man in a white robe and oversized hat stands before the class. "Nice job, Urumi." compliments Iruka as she reverts back to her statuesque self. She sighs in relief and steps back into the line.

Sasuke Uchiha was up next. He steps forward, his face erased of all emotion. He takes a moment to glance back at Urumi from the corner of his stoic eyes. Sasuke smirks and returns his attention to Iruka. He preforms the handsigns and transforms into a exact replica of the Hokage, and so did everyone else.

Then... It was Naruto's turn.

He steps forward and looks back at Urumi, who was silently cheering him on. He smiles broadly and returns his attention back to Iruka. The spiky haired blonde performs the handsigns and builds up his chakra to such an extent that it was visible.

"Transform!" he cries as he's engulfed by a cloud of smoke. His version of the Hokage had a large bottom lip, a long, narrow nose, and was short and stalky. Iruka growls in anger.

"That is a disgrace to the Hokage!" he roars as Naruto returns to normal.

"I'm sorry! Just give me another shot! I swear I'll do better!" Naruto begs as the rest of the class laughs. The bell rings and everyone heads outside.

"Naruto, it's okay. You shouldn't let the others get to you." Urumi comforts before heading outside with the rest of the class. Iruka crosses his arms over his chest and leans back against his desk.

"I'll give you a second chance after school today." he sighs as Naruto nods and heads outside.

He sits under a tree on a swing with his back to the school. Urumi spots him and tears away from the group of students she was with to join him. She pulls back on the chains of the swing which sends him rocking back and forth through the air. He looks back over his shoulder at her and hops off the swing to face the girl.

"Urumi... What are you doing here? Wouldn't you rather hang out with the others?" he asks gloomily as she sits in the swing. She glances down at her feet sweeping through the grass as she rocks back and forth.

"Why would I do that? All they ever do is tease you. I don't hang out with people that disrespect the ones I care about." she answers as Naruto's eyes widen. Urumi rises her gaze from the ground to the blonde and smiles at his expression.

He glances over at the other students, who were glaring at him. He looks back at Urumi. He chuckles and stiffly, desperate for a change of subject.

"Congradulations with passing the orientations." Naruto says as she tilts her head to the side.

"Thanks," she forces herself to smile, "but what about you? Are you gonna get another chance?" she asks as Naruto slumps into the grass under the shady tree.

A light breeze passes through as he nods. "After school... This is my third time doing this orientation, and I can't afford to fail it again..." he laments as Urumi bites her bottom lip, trying to think of something to say.

"...You shouldn't worry about it. I mean, I didn't study for the orientation, but I still passed. You should be able to pass with no problem!" she encourages as Naruto gazes up at her. He closes his eyes and smiles lightly. "Yeah, you're right..." he agrees as she smiles and giggles.

"Of course I am!" she says as he chuckles. "And besides, this'll give me a chance to show Iruka-sensei the new jutsu I've learned!" he adds as Urumi leans forward.

"You mean the Shadow Clone jutsu?" she asks as he nods. "Yeah! If I show him that jutsu, he'll have to pass me for sure!" Naruto bubbles as he grins broadly.

"...So, I guess that means we can't walk home together then..." Urumi assumes as the smile on Naruto's face fades.

"I guess not, but there's always tomorrow." he assures as Urumi nods.

"Isn't tomorrow also the day that we get split up into our squads?" she asks as Naruto tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow.

"You knew about that, but you couldn't remember what we had to do for the orientations?" he comments as Urumi pouts.

"I only know about that because someone told me." she explains as Naruto leans back against the trunk of the tree with his hands behind his head.

"So who do you want in your squad?" he asks as she shrugs. "It doesn't really matter to me, but It'd be nice to be grouped with you, Naruto. What about you?" answers Urumi as she pushes her feet off the ground and begins to swing back and forth.

"As long as I don't get paired with that Sasuke, I'll be good..." he huffs as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"What do you have against Sasuke?" asks Urumi as Naruto pouts.

"He thinks he's such a hotshot just because he's so popular. I bet I could beat him easily in a match! Believe it!" he rants as Urumi sails higher and higher on the swing.

"I've heard that the people of the Uchiha clan are pretty skilled, so I'd like to see that someday." chuckles Urumi as Sasuke walks by, his hands deep in his pockets.

Urumi almost collides into him, but he stiff-arms her in the back and she falls out of the swing. Naruto jumps up and rushes to her side.

"Are you alright?" he asks as Urumi sits up. She had her hands balled into fists and her face was twisted into a scowl.

"Urumi, you should pay more attention to where you're going." Sasuke snorts as Urumi relaxes and unballs her fists. "Sasuke! I'm sorry, but did you really have to shove me?" she apologizes as she sits up.

"Hmph, just watch where you're going next time..." he advises as he walks off with his hands in short's pockets again.

"That jerk... He had no right to push you like that!" Naruto grunts as she turns to face the blonde boy next to her. She looks back at Sasuke who was walking away.

"He's not as bad as you think Naruto..." she corrects him as his jaw drops.

"What are you talking about?!" he exclaims as he throws his arms in the air.

"What? You don't know?" she asks as Naruto raises an eyebrow. "Know about what? What am I s'posta know?!" he questions as Urumi glances down at her hands in her lap.

"I heard that when he was seven, his older brother killed his entire clan. I think that he only acts the way to not build up relationships with people so he doesn't to get hurt anymore. I was like that for awhile after my mother died, but I was never happy..." she explains just before everyone begins heading back inside.

...

"I'll see you later, Naruto!" giggles Urumi after school that day before leaving the classroom. "Alright. Bye, Urumi!" Naruto replies as he waves.

"I believe in you, so make me proud!" she encourages as she waves back, then heads out the door. Naruto watches her leave with his eyes wide and his mouth gapped open.

"It's almost like she has a split personality..." chuckles Iruka as Naruto jumps. He almost forgot the sensei was still here.

"Oh, yeah, sometimes. She can be pretty crazy, and a second later she'll be all nice and stuff. It's actually kinda weird..." he says as Iruka leans against his desk. "Growing up the way she did, I couldn't blame her..." he sighs as Naruto stares at him for a moment.

"Yeah, she told me about that..." he laments as Iruka approaches him and rest a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't feel bad about it. What happen to her clan wasn't your fault." he consoles as Naruto sighs. "I know, but I can't help it." he says as Iruka straightens up.

"Well, enough about that. Remember, you're here for a reason." he notes as Naruto nods his head. "Right! Sensei, I want to show you the jutsu I learned! I think you'll be extremely impressed with me!" Naruto prattles as Iruka raises an eyebrow.

"Alright, show me." he says as he crosses his arms over his chest. Naruto preforms the handsigns for the jutsu.

"Shadow Clone jutsu!" he cries as he's engulfed in a cloud of smoke.

When the smoke clears, three clones stand in front of Iruka. "Where did you learn a jutsu like that?!" asks the sensei as Naruto rubs his finger under his nose. "I've been studying really hard, Sensei! Are you impressed? Do I pass?" he answers as Iruka smiles.

"Of course! I knew you could do it!" he cheers as he hands Naruto his headband. His eyes light up and he pulls off his goggles and ties the headband on his forehead.

"I can't wait to tell Urumi! Thanks alot Sensei!" Naruto exclaims as he rushes out the door.

...

There was a series of rapid knocks on Urumi's front door after she arrives home. She sets her headband on the vanity by the nightstand in her room and walks over to the door.

"Oh, hey, Naruto! So, did you pass?" she greets as the blonde grins proudly and points to his headband.

"Of course! You can't keep a great ninja like me down! Believe it!" he chuckles as Urumi giggles.

"That's great, Naruto! Now we can be ninja together!" she cheers as she hugs him gleefully. He blushes and hesitantly wraps his arms around the girl.

"Yeah... S-so, where's your headband?" he stammers as she takes his hand and leads him inside. "It's in my room. I'll go get it." she announces as she runs into her bedroom. Naruto sits on the couch and waits for her to come back.

"Mister! You're back!" giggles Kaori as she runs out of her room and to the couch. "It's nice to see you too, Kaori." Naruto smiles as she climbs into his lap. She pulls on his cheeks until they turn red.

"What's with the stripes on your face? Are you trying to be a cat or something?" she asks as Naruto rubs his sore face.

"No. I'm not, but I think you might be. You're growing whiskers right now!" he joshes as Kaori gasps. "Don't baby me! How old do you think I am??" she growls, narrowing her dark eyes at the boy.

"Tada! So, what do you think?" asks Urumi as she stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Her headband tied around waist like a belt.

"Why don't you wear it on your head. It is a _head_band after all..." comments Naruto as she crosses into the living room and sits next to him on the couch, picking up the pouting girl from his lap. Kaori runs off into the kitchen and begins rummaging through drawers.

"That's obvious, but I like it better like this!" she giggles as she smiles.

"Hey, look at me! I'm Naruto!" snickers Kaori, emerging from the kitchen with black streaks across her cheeks.

"Kaori! What are you doing??" questions Urumi, shooting up from the couch angrily. The younger sister chuckles and enters the living room with a black marker in her hand.

"It looks like a sign of adoration..." Naruto grins and laces his hands behind his head, leaning back into the softness of the couch.

"Yeah, you wish..." Kaori scoffs, sticking out her tongue to the boy as the smile on his lips falls.

"Come here." Urumi instructs as she kneels on the ground. Kaori shuffles over to her relucantly and Urumi licks her thumb, wiping away the black marker on the younger girl's face. When she finishes, she takes the marker from Kaori.

"I hate it when you do that..." the younger Makura complains as she storms off to the bathroom to wash her face. Naruto smiles slightly in amusement.

"It must be hard taking care of Kaori by yourself." he assumes as Urumi tosses the marker on the couch.

"Yeah, but she's all I have left of my clan." she sighs, combing both hands through her hair as she sits on the arm of the couch beside the blonde.

"Is she the reason why you're so determinded to become a ninja?" Naruto asks as her eyes widen. She gazes down at the floor and laces her hands together in her lap.

"... Yeah, she is. I don't know what my life would be like without her." she laments as Naruto encloses his hand around her's. Her eyes shoot up to his as a smile breaks out upon his face.

"Hey! How about we go out for ramen to celebrate!" he suggests excitedly, pulling Urumi up from the couch as he stood. She sighs, but grins in agreement.

"_Ramen's going to be the death of me, one of these days_..."

...

Early the next morning, Urumi wakes up to go visit her clan's shrine. By the time she comes back, it was fourty-five minutes after seven.

She sits down at the small table behind the couch in the living room to enjoy a glass of orange juice before heading out to school, when she hears a knock at the door. She puts down the glass and heads over to the door.

"Hey, Naruto!" Urumi greets warmly as he laces his hands behind his head and smiles broadly.

"I was kinda expecting Kaori to answer the door." he chuckles as Urumi leans against the doorframe with a hand planted on her hip.

"I took her to school early today." she explains as Naruto shuffles his feet.

"So, do you want to walk with me to school today?" he asks as his face flushes red.

"Sure, and this time I'm actually ready!" she chuckles with a bright smile.

"I think we'll actually be early today!" Naruto grins as Urumi closes the door and they head off through the village to the ninja academy.

"I can't wait to see who I get paired with!" announces Urumi as she jumps off a rooftop and turns to face Naruto, who was behind her.

"I just hope I get paired with someone that I actually like..." he pouts as he drops to the ground and launches back into the air.

"I'm pretty much friends with everyone, so that's not a big deal for me..." Urumi comments as Naruto snorts.

"Yeah, I noticed..." he grunts as Urumi raises a hand to her mouth, noticing the hurt look on the boy's face.

"What's wrong? Was it something I said?" she asks as Naruto shakes his head.

"Let's just say I'm not as popular as you are..." he answers as Urumi touches down on a rooftop and does a backflip.

"Well, if you'd stop sitting by yourself all the time, maybe you'd make more friends. You have to open up to people." she advises as Naruto sighs.

"It's not like I haven't. People just don't accept me. It's like they hate me for just being here..." he says as Urumi eyes soften.

"I don't hate you..." she replies sweetly as Naruto gazes at her with wide eyes.

"_If you knew the truth_, _would you still feel that way_?"

"Wow, and with eight minutes to spare." chuckles Urumi when they finally reach the school. "I bet Iruka-sensei'll be happy you made it to class on time!" he laughs as she shoves him playfully.

...

"Alright class, today is the day you'll be split up into your squads. I decided the groups based on ability, so I don't want any complaints that you didn't get put with your friends." announces Iruka when class started.

After the announcement, he begins seperating the class into groups of three until he reached Squad 7.

"Because of the odd number of students in this class, there'll be one group of four. The members include: Urumi Makura, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki." he reports as Naruto shoots up from his chair in outrage.

"Why did I have to be put with Sasuke!" he complains as Iruka narrows his eyes at the blonde.

"Because Sasuke and Urumi are among the most advanced in this class and to balance it out I had to put you in the group as well." he explains as the students begins to chuckle and jeer. Naruto crosses his arms over his chest and flops back into his seat.

"The only thing I asked for is to not be paired with Sasuke, and what happens? I get paired with Sasuke! What's up with that?!" he huffs as Urumi turns around.

"Hey, Naruto. Atleast we were paired together." she comforts as she smiles at him.

"Just try not to get in my way, Sasuke!" exclaims Naruto as he turns to face the Uchiha behind him.

"Didn't you hear what the sensei just said? He said that you were the worst student in the class!" retorts Kiba as the students laugh and sneer again.

"I get to be with Sasuke! This is like a dream come true!" squeals Sakura to herself as she gazes at him lovingly from a distance.

"_How is this possible?! How could Billboard brow get paired with Sasuke, my Sasuke?!_" Ino Yamanaka complains to herself as she glares daggers into the back of Sakura's head. The pink haired kunoichi turns and blows a raspberry at Ino.

"_Having that numbskull, Naruto and that lovesick puppy, Sakura in my group is only going to slow me down_." thinks Sasuke as he rests his head in his hands.

Iruka continues spliting up the class into the squads and announces to the class that they'll meet their new senseis tomorrow morning.

...

"I can't belive this! This can't be happening!" growls Naruto when the class gets released for lunch.

"Well, think of it like this- Atleast now you can actually get to know him, and maybe even become friends." Urumi comforts as they sit under the shady tree with the swing.

"I doubt it!" Naruto snorts as Urumi stands from the swing. The girl stamps her fists on her hips and pouts.

"You're as stubborn as a mule! The least we can do is invite him and Sakura over to eat lunch with us!" she scolds as the blonde shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against the trunk of the tree.

"You can invite Sakura, but I swear, if that guy, Sasuke, comes anywhere near here I'll snap him in half!" he grunts as Urumi narrows her eyes at him.

"Fine! Be that way!" she snarls as she leaves to find Sakura and Sasuke. After awhile of searching, she spots Sasuke in the courtyard sitting on a bench eating riceballs. "What do you want?"

"I was just wondering that since we're in the same squad, if we could eat lunch together to get to know each other better." she says as Sakura spies on them from a nearby bush.

"_Urumi could be a threat_... _I'll have to keep an eye on her from now on_..." she thinks as she slinks away.

"No, I have other things to do than hang out with you losers..." Sasuke declines as Urumi glowers angrily at the raven haired boy seated in front of her. "Alright, maybe later then." she says through a tight jaw as she turns to go find Sakura.

...

"So, what happened?" Naruto asks as she sits back down on the swing. She sighs and presses her cheek against the cool steel of the chain holding the swing up.

"Sasuke said he was being an ass, and I couldn't find Sakura anywhere." she mumbles as Naruto chuckles.

"She's probably stalking Sasuke again. Her and the rest of the girls in our class are totally obsessed with the guy." he says as Urumi sighs again.

"Fangirls... I feel sorry for the guy..." she remarks as she kicks off the ground and begins to sweep back and forth through the air.

"I wonder what our new sensei is going to be like." Naruto announces as Urumi stares up at the clear blue sky.

"I just hope he isn't strict..." she replies. "Yeah, me too!" Naruto agrees as everyone heads back into the building.

...

After school, Urumi and Naruto walk back to their apartment complex together.

"So Urumi, are you going to use that katana now that you're a ninja?" asks Kaori when her sister comes through the door of her bedroom.

"Yeah, that's what I've been saving it for." she answers as she takes the katana off the wall across from the couch in the living room and unsheaths it carefully.

"Why would you save it?" Kaori asks as she sits on the couch.

"This katana was passed down through our family for ages. It's special, so I can't just carry it around like an old rag doll." she explains as she puts on the sheath on her back.

"So when I become a ninja, I can have it too?" Kaori asks with a wide smile. Urumi freezes, then turns to her younger sister. A small smile eases onto her lips.

"Of course. It's tradition after all." she chuckles as she slips the sword back into the sheath hanging from her back.

"Have you ever used a sword before?" Kaori asks as Urumi plants her hands on her hips. She bites her bottom lip in thought, considering the question.

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. I guess I should go outside and practice." she responses as she walks over to the front door and pulls on her shoes.

"What are we going to do for dinner?" asks Kaori as Urumi opens the door. The older sister stops in the doorway and glances over her shoulder.

"I'll be back in an hour, and then we'll go grocery shopping." she announces as she closes the door behind her.

She stands in the alleyway of the apartment complex, just outside her door. She swings her sword at the air, slicing through invisible targets. As she continues to work with the katana, it slowly begins to bind with her chakra, eliminating its use by anyone who wasn't part of the Makura clan.

Urumi didn't know much of her clan's history besides the tidbits of information she'd received from her mother. The Makura clan was one shrouded in mystery, no one knew of how they had came into existence, or more than likely, just refused to speak anything of it.

This truth that she so desperately seeks, will be alot more costly to find than she thinks.


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER 3**_

The next day, Urumi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura show up at the school and head to their assigned classroom to meet their new sensei. They sit in their seats for twenty minutes until a man pokes his head through the open door. He had light gray hair that flopped idly in his face which was mostly covered by his headband that overlapped his right eye and a bandana he wore over his nose and mouth.

"Is this Squad 7?" he asks as the four- _soon to be genin-_ students nod their heads in unison.

"Yeah, but who are you?" Naruto asks gruffly. The man's left eye closes, emulating he was smiling behind his mask.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake, and I'm your new sensei." he announces as he enters the room.

"So what are we going to do today, Sensei?" asks Sakura as Kakashi leans against the desk in the front of the classroom.

"First, I'd like to get to know you all before we head out." he answers with a light chuckle. Naruto stands up immediately.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" he announces as Kakashi cradles his head in one hand and rests his elbow in the other.

"Okay, so why do you want to become a ninja?" he asks as Naruto leans forward against the table.

"I want to get stronger, so I can become Hokage someday! Then, everyone will have to respect me!" he answers as the sensei slowly nods his head.

"Hokage, huh? Well, let's move along to the girl sitting next to you." he says as Urumi stands and Naruto sits.

"I'm Urumi Makura, and I want to become I ninja so I can get strong enough to protect my little sister, Kaori." she replies as Kakashi studies her silently. He's heard many athings about the Makura clan, but he never thought he'd wind up with one as a student.

"You and your sister are the last of your clan, I presume?" he asks as Urumi nods hesitantly. "Yes, she's all I have left..." she laments as Sakura glances over at her.

"_That's right, her entire clan was wiped out in the Great War_..." thinks Sakura as she looks over at Sasuke, who was clenching his jaw.

"Hm, alright. So you sitting next to Urumi. It's your turn." announces Kakashi as Sakura stands up and Urumi sits.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, and I want to become a ninja so the person that I love will notice me..." she cooes, blushing bright red. Everyone rolls their eyes as she gazes lovingly at Sasuke when she sits down.

"Next, please..." Kakashi sighs heavily as he pinches the bridge of his nose. Sasuke looks up from the desk, ignoring Sakura's love-struck gazes.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha and I want to become a ninja so I can become strong enough to destroy a certain someone..." he announces while remaining seated. Kakashi raises an eyebrow and stares at the Uchiha, allowing the room to settle into silence. He clears his throat and claps his hands together.

"Alright, now that we have all that out of the way, we can do what I have planned next." Kakashi reports, rubbing his hands together.

"Where are we going?" asks Urumi as he smiles.

"You'll see..." he warbles as the students raise from their seats and follow him out the building.

"Urumi, so what's with the sword?" asks Naruto as they walk through town.

"It was my father's. He had planned to pass it down to me when I finally became a ninja. Well, that's what my mom told me..." she explains as they walk by the Makura shrine. She stares long and hard at the pathway to the entrance then turns back to Naruto.

"C'mon! We have to catch up with the others!" the blonde urges, grabing Urumi by the wrist and pulling her behind him as he ran.

"Sasuke, you've hardly said anything all day. Are you okay?" asks Sakura as she walks beside him.

"I'm fine..." he replies stiffly as he begins to walk faster. Sakura sighs heavily and pouts.

"_This is going to be harder than I thought it'd be_..." she thinks to herself as the group heads into the forest clearing where Urumi and Naruto first met.

"Okay, I brought you four out here to test you." Kakashi reports as Naruto sighs loudly and frowns.

"A test?! I thought we were done with testing!" he grumbles angrily as he pouts and folds his arms.

"Don't worry, this isn't like the ones you took at the academy," Kakashi smiles, "I have three bells. If you can manage to take them from me, you pass. If not, you fail and I send you back to the academy." he explains as Naruto pouts.

"You can't do that!" he scolds as Sasuke smirks, expecting more of a challenge.

"_That's easy enough_..." he thinks as Kakashi pulls out a watch from his pocket, ignoring Naruto's outburst.

"It's ten o'clock right now. You have one hour to complete this test." he announces as Naruto flails his arms around.

"That's not fair! You can't send us back to the academy!" he shouts as Kakashi slips the watch back into his pocket and smirks.

"That's just the rules Kiddo, deal with them..." he snickers as Naruto snorts.

"_Kiddo_?! Who are you calling' a kid 'cuz I know you aren't talking about _me_!" he snarls as Sasuke, Sakura, and Urumi look down at him.

"_And I thought I had I temper_... _He's just as bad as I am_..." Urumi thinks to herself as Kakashi rolls his eyes.

"The test begins... Now!" he asserts as Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura disappear into the forest. Urumi stays and charges at the sensei at full speed. She was moving so fast she was practically invisible. She begins bumbarding Kakashi with punches and kicks. He could barely fend her off.

"_Look at that speed_! _I've never seen anything like it_!" thinks Sasuke as he watches from high up in a nearby tree.

"Isn't Kakashi-sensei a jonin? How is she able to fight him like that?" gasps Sakura as she watches from a bush below Sasuke.

"Whoa! Her speed is incredible!" praises Naruto, watching in astonishment as Urumi suddenly appears behind Kakashi and drives her palm into his back.

The force of the blow sends him flying across the ground. She pins him down with her foot on his chest and pulls out her sword. Kakashi disappears in a cloud of smoke and is replaced with a log.

"The Substitution jutsu..." Urumi utters under her breath as she hears a chime from a bell. She swings around with the sword out in front of her as Kakashi appears behind her with a kunai in his hand. She blocks his attack without even looking.

"_I guess the rumors about her clan are true_... _She's definately a Makura_." Kakashi thinks to himself as Urumi swings the katana at him again, breaking his train of thought.

He tries to block it with the kunai, but the power behind the swing blew the knife out of his hand. He stumbles back and Urumi pierces the ground with the sword and uses it to lift herself into the air, where she pounds both feet into his chest and sends him flying again. Before pushing off, she makes sure to grab one of the bells dangling from his hip.

Kakashi skids across the grass on his back and when he finally comes to a stop, Urumi pins him down again with the sword pushed up against his throat. "You came at me with the intent to kill... That's what it takes to pass this test..." he says as Urumi raises her sword and rests in on her shoulder. She smiles triumphantly.

"I guess that means I passed then..." she smirks as she slips the katana into the sheath.

"Yeah, and it only took five minutes. That's a new record." chuckles Kakashi as he sits up, dusting himself off.

"I guess I'll just sit out to the side for the rest of the test. Good luck everyone!" she encourages as she sits under a tree.

Kakashi stands to his feet and brushes the remaining dirt off his clothes. He looks around at the deep trenches in the grass from him sliding across the ground. "_Such ability this girl has_. _No wonder her clan's known as warriors_." he thinks as he pulls out a small, orange book and begins reading.

"..._The intent to kill_..." thinks Sasuke as his face twists into a grimace.

"_You'll never have enough hatred in your heart to kill me_..." sneers the voice of his older brother, Itachi in his head. Sasuke narrows his eyes and reaches into his shuriken pouch.

"I will become stronger, and I will avenge my clan!" he jaws as he hurls the shuriken at the sensei. He catches it without even looking up from his book.

"You might as well come out of hiding, Sasuke. I already know where you are." Kakashi announces as he tosses the shuriken back into the tree.

Sasuke gasps as the weapon flies just inches way from his throat and slams into the tree trunk. He recovers from his state of shock and lauches into the air, performing a series of handsigns.

"Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!" Sasuke cries out as he blows balls of fire down on Kakashi.

When he finally reaches the ground, Kakashi was gone, but in his place was a smoldering log. Kakashi chuckles as Sasuke turns around to face him.

He charges at the sensei and begins immediately throwing brisk punches. Kakashi easily blocks them all without even breaking a sweat. Sasuke growls and kicks the book out of his hand.

"And I was getting to the good part..." sighs Kakashi as Sasuke begins furiously attacking him again. He came close to grabbing a bell, but Kakashi slides out of his reach.

"Hey, Urumi! You were amazing out there! You never told me you could fight like that!" banters Naruto as he hops down from a low branch from the tree Urumi was sitting under.

"So you're impressed then?" she giggles, smiling amiably at the boy.

"I was more than impressed! I was-"

"Naruto, you're in the middle of a test. You should stop chatting with Urumi if you actually want to pass..." calls Kakashi as Sasuke attempts to kick him. The sensei grabs his ankle, and Sasuke turns on his hands. This shifts his weight over enough to lift him up off the ground to swing his fist at Kakashi. The sensei blocks this attack and the Uchiha spins away.

"He's right, Naruto. You need to focus on the test." agrees Urumi as Naruto stands from the ground and charges at Kakashi.

"Okay! You asked for it!" he exclaims as he clones himself. They dog pile on Kakashi and begin pounding on him.

Suddenly, the clones disinigrate into a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto layed out on his back battered and bruised. Kakashi had preformed the Substitution jutsu again and he put the real Naruto in his place.

"Where'd he go?!" snarls Sasuke testily, scanning the area for any sign of the sensei, but he was nowehere in sight.

...

"_I wonder where Sasuke went_..." thinks Sakura as she wanders through the forest. Then she hears Sasuke cry out in pain. She runs around until she finds him laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood and a kunai pierced through his chest.

"Sakura... Is that you?" he coughs as she kneels at his side.

"Yes, Sasuke... It's me..." she sniffles as he grabs her hand. His grip was weakened by his injury. She blushes madly.

"I just wanted you to know: I've always loved you..." he says hoarsly, tightening his grip on her hand as best he could.

"Sasuke, I don't... know what to say..." she stammers as he coughs again. Blood trickles down from the corner of his mouth, causing the pink haired kunoichi to wince.

"Just tell me... You love me, so I can go in peace..." he replies as tears stream down Sakura's cheeks.

"You can't go! Not now!" she sobs as Sasuke shakes his head.

"Just say it... Please..." he whispers as he wipes the tears from her seafoam green eyes.

"I love you, Sasuke!" she exclaims as she lays her head on his chest and cries.

"Wow, I didn't think that my Illusion jutsu would work this well..." snickers Kakashi as he watches the show from up in a nearby tree. Sakura begins to sob harder as he sighs. "_I guess I should go check up on Sasuke and Naruto_..." he thinks as he takes off through the trees and heads back to the clearing.

...

"Naruto! Are you okay?!" worries Urumi as she rushes to his side and kneels on the ground.

"Get back, Urumi. Remember we're still testing..." Kakashi reminds as he stands on a branch from the tree she was sitting under upside-down with his book in his hand. Urumi's eyes widen and she turns to looks at the sensei. She bites her bottom lip and glances back down at Naruto.

"It's alright... I can take him." grunts Naruto as he slowly stands to his feet.

"Uhn, just be careful..." she advises as she steps back.

"_This_'_ll be the perfect oppritunity to use my new jutsu_..." thinks Naruto as he quickly performs the handsigns.

"Secret Finger jutsu!" Kakashi interjects as he shoves his two index finger into a not so happy place on the blonde.

His face twists up like he just ate a lemon and then he shoots into the air and disappears into the treetops.

"What the hell did you just do?!" shrieks Urumi as she turns to face the sensei again. "That isn't appropriate language for a young lady, you know?" Kakashi remarks nonchalantly as he turns the page of his book.

...

"Why, Sasuke?! Why?!" Sakura cries out as the nonillusional Sasuke approaches her.

"Have you seen Kakashi-sensei anywhere, Sakura?" he asks as she looks up at him with big, starry eyes. She ist bolt upright at the sound of his voice and turns to face him. Sakura gasps and a smile appears on her tear-stained face.

"Sasuke, you're alive! Now we can live happily ever after together!" she cheers as she embraces him tightly. Sasuke flinches and tries to get away, but his attempt to escape was too late.

"Let go!" Sasuke demands as he tries to pull her off. Sakura pouts and releases him from her grasp. She tilts her head to the side, her eyes gleaming with fresh tears.

"What's wrong? Don't you remember? You said you loved me..." Sakura recalls as Sasuke raises an eyebrow.

"I never said _anything_ like that!" he snorts as Sakura gasps. "Then that means..." she laments as she lowers her head.

"Listen, have you seen Kakashi-sensei or not?" Sasuke repeats as Sakura runs off crying.

"_I can't believe I just did that_! _He probably thinks I'm a weirdo now_!" she thinks as she disappears through the brush.

"I guess not..." he assumes as Naruto falls from the sky. Sasuke watches the blonde fall out of tree and slam into the ground.

"Argh! I swear I'm gonna kill that guy!" the blonde barks as he staggers to his feet.

"_He must be back at the clearing_..." thinks Sasuke as he takes off for the clearing. Naruto quickly follows after him.

"Ah, you finally come back, Sasuke. Glad to see I didn't knock you out for too long, Naruto." greets Kakashi when they arrive back at the clearing.

"I know, I don't have as much skill as Urumi, but I'll pass this test no matter what it takes!" announces Naruto as he charges at the sensei once again. He throws punch after punch at Kakashi, but winds up flat on his back everytime because of the sensei's counterattacks.

After watching Naruto's failures, Sasuke decides to try again, but is stopped when the blonde grabs his ankle.

"Let go of me!" he commands as Naruto stands to his feet. "Listen to me! The only chance we have of actually passing this test is by working together, so what do you say?" he whispers as Sasuke's fists tighten.

"...You better hope this works..." he snorts as they both charge at Kakashi.

The sensei chuckles as they try to doubleteam him. Kakashi grabs both their wrists as they come at him and fling them across from each other. Naruto stumbles forward and tries to regain his footing while Sasuke swings around and reaches for his shuriken pouch to find that Kakashi had vanished.

"It must be the Substitution jutsu again." groans Naruto as Sasuke rolls his eyes.

"That's really getting old fast, Kakashi!" he retorts, looking around for the sensei.

Suddenly a hand shoots up from the ground and pulls Naruto down into the dirt until the only thing left visable was his head. Kakashi appears in a cloud of smoke and steps on the blonde's head as he smiles.

"It's great that you guys finally learned to work together, but your hour is now up."

Urumi ignores the sensei's announcement and runs to aid her friend, who was wide eyed in shock.

"Sensei, did you really have to do that to Naruto?" she asks as she kneels next to the blonde's head and begins digging him out of the ground. Kakashi shrugs and counts the heads of the three students in front of him.

"Does any of you know where Sakura is?" he asks as the others shrug in response.

"The last time I saw her she ran off into the forest crying..." Sasuke reports as Kakashi chuckles. "That jutsu worked better than I expected..." he snickers as Naruto pulls his arms free from the firm soil.

"I guess that means we're gonna have to go find her..." Urumi implies, pulling Naruto out of the ground with one final tug. "And afterwards, we'll eat lunch." adds Kakashi, sitting indian style on the ground.

"Aren't we leaving to find Sakura?" asks Naruto as Kakashi flips the page in his book and chuckles lightly.

"I already have it covered." he assures as the students sit down as well.

...

"Sakura! Where are you?" calls _Sasuke_ as he wanders through the woods in search of the missing Sakura. She hears him calling out to her from a distance and stands from the ground.

"Sasuke? What is he doing here? Isn't the test still going on?" she thinks aloud, leaving the rock she was leaning on to follow the sound of _Sasuke's_ voice.

"Sakura! Where'd you go?" he calls out again as Sakura begins to walk faster.

"He sounds pretty worried about me- Wait a minute!" she stops, "When did Sasuke ever worry about me?! This has to be another trick! I'm gonna beat the hell out of that sensei!" she growls, running through some bushes and colliding into _Sasuke_.

"Sakura, I'm so glad I found you." he greets, rubbing his head with a small smile. Sakura's scowl quickly melts away as he gazes into her eyes.

"Aren't you suppost to be testing?" she asks as he stands and holds out his hand to her. She gazes at his hand for a moment, blinking her eyes with a blank expression. Saukra blushes and hesitantly grabs onto his hand.

"Aren't you?"

"Oh, crap! I forgot all about that! C'mon, we have to go before it's too late!" she panicks as she races back to the clearing with _Sasuke_ on her tail.

...

"Nice of you to join us, Pinky..." greets Kakashi when she finally arrives. Sakura glares at the sensei and rolls her eyes, panting wildly. She notices Sasuke sitting behind Urumi and Naruto.

"Sasuke, how'd you get back here so fast?"

"What are you talking about? I never left." he announces as the pink haired kunoichi's jaw drops. The sensei attempts to conceal his chuckles, but it doesn't work.

"How many times are you going to fall for the Illusion jutsu?" he asks as Sakura spins around with rage in her eyes.

"Dammit! I'm soooo gonna kick your ass!" she exclaims, charging at Kakashi at full force.

"What is with you young ladies and this language of your's?" he asks as Sakura starts throwing punches at him. He stiffarms her in the forehead to keep away from her flailing fists.

"I'm gonna get my revenge on you if it's that last thing I do!" she snorts as Kakashi sighs and flips the page in his book.

"Settle down. The test is over, so you can stop now." he says as Sakura drops to her knees. Her eyes deadpan, the corner of her mouth quivering in disbelief.

"The test... It's over?"

"If you hadn't been obsessing over Sasuke, you would've known this..." he explains as Sakura lowers her head.

"_I can't believe this_. _First_, _I embarrass myself in front of Sasuke_, _then I fail the test_... _This can't be happening_..." she thinks as Kakashi turns to Urumi.

"And even though you were able to get the bell, you charged in head first without taking time to evaluate your opponent. If this was a real mission, you could've died." he announces as Urumi clenches her fists tightly and narrows her eyes at the sensei.

"_I'm alot stronger than you think I am_, _Kakashi-sensei_... _I wouldn't have went down that easily_..." she thinks to herself as Kakashi turns to the two boys of the group.

"And you two... I have to say that I'm the most impressed with you. You demonstrated the whole point of this excersise- Teamwork." he chuckles as Naruto's eyes light up.

"Cool, but can we eat now? I'm starving!" he says as the sensei leads them to a picnic area. On one of the picnic tables there was a basket and next to the table was some rope and a pole.

The students sit down at the table while Kakashi hands out the lunches. He drops a tray of food in front of Sasuke and Naruto and removes the basket from the table, laying it in the grass.

"What about us, Sensei?" asks Sakura as Kakashi smiles.

"Oh, I have something special for the two of you... Can you both close your eyes real quick-- No peeking." he says as the two kunoichi do as they're told. Kakashi leans them over to the pole and ties them to it.

"Can we look now?" asks Urumi as Naruto stares in awe.

"You can open your eyes now..." he answers with a concealed grin as the kunoichi scream in terror at their current situation.

"Sensei, why'd you do that?!" asks Naruto, rushing over to Urumi as he grabs the rope.

"There's a seal on the rope so it's unbreakable, and I had to because they failed the test." he announces as Naruto releases the rope and takes a step back, an eyebrow raising at Urumi's dropping jaw.

"What?! How could I fail?! I got the bell!" Urumi snaps as Kakashi crosses his arms.

"Yeah, but you didn't show any teamwork." he says as the angered kunoichi kicks her feet wildly in the air.

"Damn you, Kakashi!! you never said that!!" she roars as Kakashi smiles and waves a finger at her.

"Temper, temper now..."

Kakashi chuckles and closes his book, placing it in the pouch hanging off his hip. He turns on his heels and begins to head in the direction of the village, the eyes of the gennin following him with every step.

"Where are you going? You can't just leave them like that!" questions Naruto as Kakashi looks over his shoulder, a hint of innocence glimmering in his eyes.

"There's a sale going on at the bakery, and I don't want to miss it!" he explains with a hidden smile as Urumi hangs her head.

"Are you insane?!" exclaims Sakura as Kakashi shakes his head.

"Before I leave I need to tell you something. Sasuke... Naruto... don't feed them or even attempt to set them free. If you do I'll make so neither of you become ninja." he announces before disappearing through the brush.

Urumi's stomach growls. She'd never been so hungery in her life.

"I was so nervous about the test that I forgot to eat breakfast this morning... I'm so hungry..." she whines as Sakura sniffles and nods her head in agreement.

Naruto grabs his tray of food from the table and sits it in his lap. He seperates the chopsticks and uses them to pick a some grilled aku which he holds out to Urumi.

"Here... Eat..."

"Naruto, what are you doing? Didn't you hear what the sensei said?" she questions as he shakes his head, thrusting the food at her again.

"I don't care what he said. I'm not going to just sit back and let you suffer like this." he answers as Urumi lowers her head.

"I don't want to be responsible for ruining your dream of becoming Hokage, Naruto... I can't accept that..." she laments as Sasuke sighs and grabs his plate and sets it in Sakura's lap.

"Sasuke..." she gasps as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. Sasuke stares at the cloudless, blue sky and sighs.

"I'm not very hungry, so you can have it." he says as Sakura smiles brightly. Urumi's stomach growls again.

"Urumi, just take a bite. I'll feed it to you if you'd like..." Naruto says as Urumi shakes her head.

"Just take the food, Urumi. Naruto's already putting everything on the line for you as it is, so you might as well just accept it!" scolds Sasuke as Urumi looks back at him in shock, then turns to Naruto.

"Okay, I'll just have alittle..." she sighs, but before the food could even touch her lips, Kakashi comes back.

"I see that both of you disobeyed my orders..." he booms as Naruto spins around. He narrows his eyes and growls angrily.

"I don't care about your stupid orders! What you did was inhumane and you know it!" he scolds as Kakashi chuckles. Naruto's face softens as he tilts his head in confusion.

"Yeah, I guess I went alittle overboard, but the goodnews is that you all pass!" he says as the students jaws drop.

"Why'd you change your mind?" asks Sasuke as Kakashi smiles.

"I never planned on failing anyone. I had faith in all of you." he explains as Sakura looks over her shoulder at the sensei.

"So what are we going to do now?" she asks as Kakashi plants his freehand on his hip.

"Now that you're all genin, we have to start your training. Come back here tomorrow afternoon to do so, and don't be late." he announces as he turns to leave again.

"Hey! What about us?!" yells Urumi and Sakura in unison.

"Why don't you just untie yourselves?" Kakashi asks as he contiues walking away.

"You said you put a seal on the rope, remember?" reminds Naruto as Kakashi explodes into laughter.

"You actually believed that?!" he chuckles as Urumi and Sakura glare intensely at him. Sasuke grunts and cuts the ropes with a kunai. Urumi stands and rubs her forearm, a scowl still occupying her face.

"I have half the mind to kick your ass right now, Kakashi..." Urumi threatens, causing Naruto to sweatdrop because she sounded pretty serious. He chuckles nervously and wraps an arm around Urumi's shouders.

"Oh, she was just kidding, Kakashi-sensei... Weren't you Urumi??" the blonde ad-libs, prompting the girl with a forced smile. Urumi ignores it and pulls away from the blonde.

"I'm going home." she announces dully, storming off towards the village. Kakashi watches her leave, his fingertips brushing against his neck where Urumi's blade threatened to cut into during the test.

Urumi had incredible speed, agility, stealth, and strength-- The perfect killing machine. Which is exactly what she-- and her clan-- were designed to do...


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER 4**_

"That sensei of our's is late... Again!" scolds Sakura as she plants her fists on her hips. Naruto stands from the ground and walks towards the training posts. He turns and points a finger at Sasuke, who was staring off into space not paying any attention to the spiky-haired ninja.

"Sasuke! I challenge you to a fight!" Naruto exclaims as Sasuke smirks and chuckles. Urumi stares in amazement. This was the first time she's ever seen the Uchiha show any kind of emotion other than animosity.

"Like I'd waste my time with the likes of you?" he snorts as Urumi walks over to the blonde with his hands on his hips and a frustrated expression on his peach-colored face.

"Naruto, I'll fight with you if you want..." Urumi offers as Naruto's eye's widen and he begins to relax. His mind travels off to the other day when he watched her fight Kakashi. The look of intensity in her eyes was burned into his memory. He laughs and shakes his thoughts away.

"As long as you promise to not kill me, first..." he chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck with a broad, awkward grin on his face.

"I'll go easy on you--Promise. How about hand to hand combat?" Urumi asks as she unbuckles the strap on her sheath and leans her sword against a nearby tree trunk.

"Aw, then it won't be any fun! I want you to give me all you got!" Naruto says as Urumi approaches him and gets into her battle stance. She smirks.

"Alright, you asked for it..." she snickers as Naruto charges at her full force.

He swings a tight fist at her, but Urumi blocks the attack and punches him in the stomach. He flies through the air and tumbles to the ground on his back.

"That was... A pretty good punch... Urumi..." he pants as he lifts himself off the ground.

"Naruto! I'm sorry! Are you hurt? Maybe we should stop!" the auburn-haired kuniochi panicks raising her hands to her mouth in fear.

"_I'm surprised that blow didn't kill him_..." thinks Sasuke crossing his arms over his chest. Sakura winces as blood begins to slide down Naruto's chin from the corner of his mouth.

"I'd hate to be Naruto right now..." she comments quietly as Naruto rises to his feet and wipes the blood away with the sleeve of his orange jacket.

"No, this is just the kinda challenge I need..." he grunts as he grins again. Urumi lowers her hands, tilts her head, and smiles back.

"Maybe I could train with you more often to help you get stronger so you can reach your goal..." she suggests as Naruto pumps his hands in the air excitedly.

"You'd do that?!" he asks as Urumi nods.

"Of course I would... I'd do anything for you because that's what friends do, so are we gonna continue this match or what?" she replies as she gets back into her fighting stance. Naruto nods and grunts in agreement before darting after her once again. The same thing happens over and over until the sensei finally arrives twenty minutes later.

"You can stop beating each other up now, I'm here..." Kakashi announces with a concealed grin.

"Nobody's beating anyone up! We're training, thank you very much!" corrects Naruto as Kakashi crosses his arms and strokes his chin.

"That's not what it looks like to me..." he remarks as he looks down at the battered blonde. Naruto growls and stomps his foot, shouting incoherent profanities at the sensei.

"What are we suppose to be doing today, Kakashi?" questions Sasuke as the older man chuckles.

"I almost forgot... I have good news for all of you." he states as Urumi grabs her katana and straps in onto her back.

"What's the good news, Sensei?" asks Sakura as Kakashi smiles again.

"We have our first mission today." he announces as Naruto's obscene language stops. His eyes begin to light up at the news.

"Really?! What do we have to do?!" he asks as Kakashi stares off into the clouds. "It's a search and rescue mission..."

"Yeah? _Yeah_?!" Naruto chants as Kakashi looks back down at the blonde again.

"For a cat..." he finishes as Naruto's jaw drops.

"A cat?! I thought we were going to do something exciting like save a princess or rescue a village or something!" Naruto scolds as Kakashi plants his hands on his hips.

"You're a genin. At the most, you can handle a D ranked mission like this one... The only way you can move up the mission rank is to show me that you're strong enough... And wise enough to handle it." Kakashi says as Naruto growls. Urumi walks up to the boy now kneeling on the ground and leans over him with a bright smile on her soft face.

"Naruto, I bet this mission will actually be kinda fun, so cheer up and look on the bright side." she says as Naruto looks up at her with wide eyes. She hadn't even broken a sweat and not one hair on her head was out of place. On the other hand, Naruto was exhausted and pain was surging through his entire body.

"How much fun could rescuing a cat be?" scoffs Sasuke as Sakura crosses her arms and rolls her eyes at the kuniochi in atonement with Sasuke. He looks over at the pink haired girl standing next to him through the corner of his eye and snorts. On the inside, Sakura was freaking out because her beloved looked at her for the first time today.

"Such youth and optimism you have Sasuke..." comments Kakashi sarcastically as the Uchiha flares his nostils in irritation.

"Yeah, so about the mission... When are we going to leave?" Naruto asks as he brushes the dirt off his clothes off.

"Right. Here are your headsets. You'll need them to keep in touch just in case something happens, so don't play around with them." Kakashi announces as he hands out the headsets.

"Woa! Cool!" the blonde ninja chirps as Kakashi glares at him intensely.

"Naruto! Stop goofing off!" the sensei commands as he slaps the blonde in the back of his head. He topples forward and falls flat on his face.

"Dammit! What was that for?!" Naruto snaps as Kakashi ignores the outburst.

"We'll split up to make the job easier." he says as the genin disperse into the forest.

"Don't do anything stupid, alright Naruto..." remarks Sasuke through the headset as Naruto growls in response.

"Go to Hell..." he shoots back as Sakura gasps.

"Naruto! How dare you say such a thing about Sasuke! You better apologize!" she threatens as she cracks her knuckles loud enough to be heard over the headsets of all the ninja.

"Don't threaten him, Sakura unless you want your ass beat by me!" snarls Urumi as silence washes over the bickering gennin.

"Will you four shut up and focus on the mission?!" scolds Kakashi; breaking the cold silence.

"What is there to focus on?! All we have to do is capture a stupid cat!" exclaims Naruto as Kakashi sighs.

"You just don't get it, do you? Every mission is important no matter what ranking it has!" he explains as Naruto rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever..." he snorts as Urumi stops at the forest floor. An erie, cold wind sweeps through the trees as she looks around.

"Something doesn't feel right..." she observes as Naruto lands on a low tree branch.

"Urumi, is something wrong?" he asks as she shakes her head even though she knew, Naruto couldn't see it.

"No... I'm alright... Just forget I said anything... We have to focus on the mission..." she states as Naruto begins to worry.

"Urumi, I'm coming after you, okay? Just stay where you are." he says as he hops down from the branch.

Suddenly, he hears a faint meowing noise from the tree he just jumped out of.

"No, Naruto. It's alright..." Urumi voice assures him over the speaker of the headset as he turns his attention to the meowing coming from above him.

He climbs up the trunk of the tree and climbs back onto the low branch he was sitting on earlier. The meowing was even louder now. He hugs the trunk and stands on the branch peering into the leaves of the one up above it until he reveales a black cat with a bright pink ribbon tied around his neck.

"Hey guys! I think I found the cat!" announces Naruto excitedly as he reaches out to grab the feline. It hisses and pounces on the blonde ninja as it swats it's claws at his face. Naruto falls out the tree and desperately tries to pry the cat off of him.

Over the headsets, his teammates and sensei could hear his yelps of pain and the wailing of the cat. Kakashi shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose in distress.

What else could go wrong today??

Urumi had tuned everything out by this time. She couldn't get the weird feeling she had to go away. She begins to leave the area, but is stops when she sees a man with pasty, white skin and long black hair staring at her through the bushes. His golden eyes seem to glow in the shadows as she grips the handle of her katana in fear.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" she demands as the man laughs maniacally and slowly disappears.

...

Naruto manages to pull away from the savage cat as Sasuke drops down from the sky.

"Damn, stupid cat!" he snarls as he notices the blood streaming down his right cheek. Sasuke picks up the cat gently and begins to strock it's back. The cat purrs and rubs his head against Sasuke's chest.

"You can't even handle a little cat like this? You're even more of a loser than I thought..." he chuckles as Naruto rises to his feet in anger.

"That's it! I'm gonna beat the crap out of you if it's the last thing I do!" Naruto exclaims, pointing a finger at Sasuke.

...

When the man disappears, Urumi stands motionless under a shady tree with her hand still wrapped around the handle of her sword. She was very uneasy now and couldn't get the image of the mysterious man out of her head.

While she stood under the tree, a purple snake slithered down from above her and bites her on the left side of her neck. Urumi lets out a shrill shriek of pain and collapses to her knees. It echoes through the trees and everyone freezes.

"What are you two just standing around here for? Urumi's in danger!" scolds Sakura as she runs through the brush. The Uchiha grunts and follows behind Sakura while Naruto glares at him.

"I'll deal with you later, Sasuke. The most important thing right now is to save Urumi!" Naruto says before taking off in a full sprint to the kuniochi's location. By the time the three other gennin get there, Kakashi was already at Urumi's side.

"Are you okay? What happened?" questions Naruto as he runs up to Urumi.

"Stay back, Naruto--All of you..." the sensei orders as Urumi looks up at the blonde staring down at her, worry and fear in his brilliant, blue eyes.

"I'm alright... I just got bit..." she says with a strained smile as she clenches the side of her neck tightly. Kakashi narrows his eyes at the wound.

"By what? Do you know?" he asks as Urumi removes her hand from her neck and stares down at the grassy ground.

"It looked like a snake, but I'm not really sure... I was alittle... distracted..." she answers as Kakashi pulls back her collar to reveal her wound. Instead he saw three tear-drop shaped markings in a circle where she was bitten at.

"_What would Orochimaru want with Urumi_?" thinks Kakashi to himself as the injured kuniochi rises to her feet. She sways alittle until she could steady herself, but fails and collapses onto her knees. Naruto catches Urumi and holds her close to his body.

"You shouldn't move around too much... We don't know if that snake that bit you was poisonous yet." advises Sasuke as Sakura's inner-spirit throws a temper-tantrum because her crush was paying more attention to Urumi than her. The young Makura grabs the side of her neck as it pulsates with pain.

"Urumi... I have to treat your wound... You should come with me to the hospital." Kakashi says as Urumi shakes her head warily.

"I'm fine... Don't worry about it..." she denies as Naruto narrows his worry-filled eyes at her.

"You aren't fine and you need to stop trying to cover it up! Let Kakashi-sensei take care of the bite!" he scolds as Urumi shakes her head again.

"I'm not going to the hospital and leaving Kaori by herself!" she shoots back as Kakashi sighs heavily.

"Maybe you should just take her home, Naruto... Sasuke. Sakura. You both come with me so we can return this cat to it's owner." announces Kakashi as Naruto nods his head and lifts Urumi onto his back. He then runs through the brush and trees of the woods and back into town in silence.

"Naruto, you know you didn't have to do this..." Urumi states coldly; breaking the silence between the two friends.

"What are you talking about? You can barely walk!" observes Naruto when they reach the apartment complex.

"Tomorrow... Why don't you and I train together at the training grounds..." Urumi suggests as Naruto lowers her to the ground. He knew she was just trying to change the subject, but he didn't mind.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard... Just take it easy and rest for a bit..." he advises as Urumi gazes into his caring, blue eyes.

"I want to help you become stronger, Naruto... I want to see your dreams become reality..." she tells him as his eyes widen in shock from her reply.

"... I want you to promise me that you'll take it easy until then..." Naruto orders as Urumi smiles slightly, trying not to show that she was pain.

"Urumi! You're home-" Kaori freezes in the doorway when she sees her older sister leaning against the wall next to her. She sees the pain concealed in her eyes and clings to Urumi's leg.

"Kaori..." Urumi laments as her younger sister gazes up at her with tears sliding down her face.

"You're hurt! You need to come inside!" she begs as Naruto wraps an arm around Urumi to help her into the apartment and to her room.

"If you need anything-- Anything at all-- I'll be next door, okay..." Naruto says as he helps Urumi into her bed. "Thanks, Naruto... For everything..." she thanks him just before drifting off to sleep.

"What happened to her?" asks Kaori timidly as Naruto shuts the bedroom door behind him.

"She was bitten by a snake on a mission today... I think she just needs to rest alittle. She'll be alright though..." he explains to the young girl as tears begin to form in her eyes again.

"I hope so..." she sighs as Naruto heads for the front door. "I'll be next door if you need me..." he tells Kaori before he disappears through the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

That night, Kaori bangs rapidly on Naruto's front door. She was sobbing immensely; tears flowing down her cheeks like waterfalls. Naruto wakes up and groans as he shuffles his way to the door. He cracks it open and pokes his head through the opening.

"Mister! It's Urumi! She needs your help!" she blurts as the blonde's eyes widen and he quickly follows the frantic child to Urumi's bedroom.

When he arrives, Urumi was struggling to breath and burning up.

"She has a fever! Kaori! Get me a bucket of cold water and a washcloth!" commands Naruto as the girl scurries to the bathroom. She waddles back into the room several moments later and lays the bucket next to the bed where Naruto was sitting. He grabs the cloth and dips it into the water, then lays it on Urumi's forehead.

After awhile, her breathing becomes steady again and her fever slowly goes back to normal.

"Is she going to be okay?" asks Kaori quietly as Naruto smiles down at her from the chair he was seated in next to Urumi's bedside.

"She should be fine now, but I think I should stay here for awhile to make sure... You can go back to bed now..." he assures her as she hesitates to leave the room.

"I wasn't able to do anything to help her, but I'm glad that you're here..." she laments before running to her room. Naruto gazes down at the older Makura lying motionless under the comforter of her bed.

"_Why didn't you just let Kakashi-sensei take you to the hospital_?" he thinks to himself as he remembers the feeling that overcame him when he heard Urumi scream in the forest.

Naruto sat in the chair at Urumi's bedside, watching over her for hours until he slowly fell asleep. He wakes up the next morning when Urumi lightly strokes his cheek with her hand. Naruto's eyes shoot open and his face flushes bright red. Urumi chuckles lightly and sits up slowly. She winces as the pain surges from her neck to the rest of her body. The blonde jumps up from his chair and wraps his arms around her.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard!" he worries as she smiles.

"I'm alright, Naruto... Really..." she persuades as he eases back into his seat.

"Are you sure? Does the bite still hurt?" he asks as Urumi clenches her neck.

"Alittle, but it's nothing... So what are you doing here?" she replies as Naruto scratches the back of his neck and chuckles nervously.

"Well, Kaori came over to my apartment last night and said that you needed help, so I came over here to watch over you..." he explains as Urumi blushes.

"Thanks Naruto..." she says quietly as she slides out of bed and accidentally steps into the bucket of water on the floor.

"I'm sorry! I guess I should've moved that before I went to sleep..." Naruto apologizes as Urumi sits back down on the bed while he carries it back to the bathroom.

Urumi turns and gazes into the mirror on the other side of the room and notices the markings on her neck. She narrows her eyes at her reflection and walks over to the mirror for a closer look.

"_How did this get there_? _What's it suppost to be anyway_?" she thinks as Naruto reenters the room.

"So do you think you're well enough to go training today?" he asks as Urumi jumps. She turns away from the mirror and smiles awkwardly at the blonde in her doorway. She covers the markings on her neck with her hand and nods.

"Yeah, just let me get dressed and I'll meet you over there." she responds as Naruto gazes at her one more time before turning to leave.

"I promise to go easy on you!" he joshes as he opens the front door. Urumi forces herself to chuckle.

"We'll see about that, Naruto!" she calls back as he smiles and heads over to his apartment.

"Urumi! You can't go! You aren't well enough!" scolds Kaori as she scurries from her bedroom down the hall, to her older sister's doorway.

"Kaori, it'll be fine... I'm just going to help Naruto train, okay?" she assures the young girl as she shakes her head firmly while tears fly in every direction.

"Last night... I was so scared because I didn't know what to do to help you, Sister... I just don't want anything bad to happen to you..." she whimpers as Urumi's eyes widen. She runs over to her sibling and holds her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Kaori. How about you come with me to train... Does that make you feel better?" she asks as the young girl wipes the tears from her eyes and shakes her head.

"No... I have a play-date with Konohamaru today..." she snorts as Urumi stands.

"_It's amazing how much of an attitude she has even when she's upset_..." she thinks to herself as Kaori leaves to get dressed.

...

Naruto arrives at the training grounds a half an hour later and sits under a shady tree until Urumi shows up fifteen minutes later.

"Hey, Naruto! Are you ready to get started?" she asks when she approaches him. He smiles broadly and rises to his feet.

"I was born ready!" he exclaims excitedly as he pumps his fists into the air. Urumi giggles and draws out her katana.

"How about we make this alittle more interesting?" she asks as Naruto stares at the sharp blade of the sword glimmering under the radiant rays of the sun.

"What do you mean?" he asks as Urumi rests the dull side of the blade on her right shoulder.

"I need some practice with my sword, so why don't we use weapons?" she explains as Naruto pulls out a couple of kunai knives from the pouch attached to his hip.

"Alright, that's fine with me..." he agrees as Urumi holds the katana out in front of her.

She disappears in a blink of an eye. Naruto jumps at the slightest sound or movement around him. He hears a twig snap from behind him and he turns around just as Urumi lunges out from the leaves of a tree with the katana high above her head.

Naruto dodge rolls out of the way just as the blade of the katana drives into the ground. Urumi's engulfed by a cloud of dust and dirt from the power behind the blow.

"What the hell?! I thought we were training! You could've killed me!" Naruto gasps as Urumi fans the cloud from her face.

"Sorry... I guess that's just something else I need to work on..." she chuckles as she helps Naruto to his feet.

"Well, I have the same problem with my jutsu... I use up too much chakra..." Naruto states as Urumi smiles.

"We can work on our faults together, Naruto..." she says as he eyes glisten from the amity in Urumi's voice.

"...Are we just going to stand here, or are we going to train?" he asks with a grin as Urumi points the katana at him.

"You're right! You better get ready, Naruto!" she agrees as she races towards him. He quickly raises the kunai in his hands in defense as she swings her sword at him. He slides backwards to dodge the attack as it sweeps through the air swiftly.

Luckily, the blade only tears through Naruto's jacket and black t-shirt. Urumi lifts the katana over her head and brings it down forcefully. Naruto fends it off with the knives. Urumi notices a seal on the blonde's stomach and she lowers her weapon to the ground. Naruto falls forward onto his hands and knees as she backs up against a tree trunk.

"That seal... That's the seal they used for the Nine-Tailed Fox..." Urumi stammers frightfully as Naruto gazes at the fear in her eyes.

"Urumi, wait... I can explain..." he consoles as Urumi shakes her head as tears flow down her tears.

"No, Naruto! I'm... Sorry..." she laments as she takes off through the trees.

"Urumi! Wait!"

He takes off after her and when he finally catches up with the girl, Urumi was kneeling on the floor in front of the alter of her clan's shrine. He stands in the open doorway, breathing heavily as she weeps silently to herself.

"Why didn't you tell me about this? Why did you hide this from me?" she asks him after a long moment of a deathly cold silence.

"I was just waiting for the right time to tell you because I knew you'd be upset..." he explains as Urumi stabs the floor with the blade of the katana and rises to her feet with her back still turned to the boy.

"That demon killed my entire clan! How'd you expect me to react, Naruto?!" she questions as she whips around to face him.

"Urumi... I... You don't know what I have to deal with everyday of my life! I'm hated by the people of this village for something I had no control over! Do you think I wanted this?!" he exclaims tearfully as Urumi's eyes widen. She turns back around and stares at the alter in deep thought. Naruto stands in the doorway and waits for a response. When he doesn't get one, he turns to leave.

Urumi runs after him and embraces him from behind. "Naruto! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! Please forgive me!" she sobs as she buries her tear-stained cheek into the back of his neck. Naruto freezes and his heart stops as his face flushes bright red.

"Urumi..." he utters as she tightens her grip on the blonde. "I don't want you to feel alone anymore, and I know I didn't show it when I ran off, but I'll always be by your side no matter what... Will you forgive me?" Urumi whimpers as Naruto turns around and tilts her head up so he could look her in the eyes.

"That's what friends are for, right?" he asks as he wipes away the tears from her eyes.

"You're right, you should probably get heading home... It's starting to rain outside..." she says as she grabs her katana and slides it back into the sheath as she follows Naruto out of the shrine.

He stares up into the gray, cloudy sky as rain begins to drizzle down upon the village. He takes off his jacket and drapes it over Urumi and smiles.

"We don't want you catching a cold..." he explains as she smiles back and they walk back to the apartment complex.

...

"Thanks for letting me borrow your jacket Naruto..." Urumi says as she pulls it off her head and hands it back to the blonde.

"It's my pleasure... I wouldn't know what to do with myself if anything ever were to happen to you..." he replies as he steps forward towards the girl. They stare into each others eyes for a long moment. Their body's just inches away from the other as Naruto holds her hand tightly and slowly leans forward.

...

"Thanks for walking me home Konohamaru. I had a great time with you today." thanks Kaori as the young boy with spiky, black hair smiles.

"No sweat. Hey, Boss is here too... And it looks like he found himself a girlfriend. She's quite pretty..." he responds as Kaori giggles.

"That's my sister. You should meet her. She's really nice." she explains as she drags the Hokage's grandson over to the couple.

"Boss is a pimp!" he blurts as Naruto jumps and blushes insanely red and steps away from Urumi, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Mister, why were you trying to eat my sister's face?" Kaori asks as the older Makura giggles to herself. Naruto shakes his head frantically as he waves his hands through the chilly air. Trying desperately to think of an explanation. Unfortunately he couldn't, so he decides to change the subject.

"Konohamaru! What are you doing here?"

"Konohamaru and Kaori are friends from school and they were just on a play-date for today..." she answers as Naruto turns his attention back to her. She was still alittle red in the face and she seemed a bit on edge.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you later Kaori. Bye Boss! Bye Lady!"

"The name's Urumi!"

"Okay, bye Lady!" he replies before disappearing around the corner.

"You still haven't answered my question... Why were you trying to eat my sister's face?" Kaori repeats as Urumi pats the young girl on the back.

"Why don't you go inside and change out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold." she instructs sweetly as her sibling smiles and skips to the door.

"Alright, but while I'm gone you better not try anything, Mister..." she prattles as she heads inside. Naruto sighs heavily from relief.

"You should do the same, Urumi..." he asserts as she turns towards him with starry eyes.

"I guess so... I'll see you tomorrow then, right?" she asks as he smiles lightly. "Of course..."


	6. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER 6**_

There was a sudden knock on Urumi's front door the next afternoon. She wasn't home though, she left to visit her clan's shrine. Kaori, choosing to stay home, answered the door cautiously.

When she opened the door, Sasuke was standing nonchalantly in the doorway with his hands buried deep within his pockets as he stares off into space. He narrows his dark eyes at the young girl and snorts.

"Where's Urumi?" he asks gruffly as Kaori plants her hands on her hips. She steps forward and narrows her eyes back at him.

"Who, may I ask, wants to know?" she snaps as the Uchiha boy sighs heavily.

"Sasuke... I'm her teammate... I just came over to check up on Urumi, alright?" he explains in frustration as the younger Makura takes a step back and leans idly against the door frame.

"Did you come to eat my sister's face like the other guy?" she questions as Sasuke raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you talking about? What other guy?" he asks as Kaori points to the apartment nextdoor. "He's blonde and wears an orange jumpsuit." she describes as Sasuke chuckles lightly.

"_Naruto, huh_?" he thinks to himself as Kaori waves a hand at him to get his attention.

"So are you or not?" she repeats as Sasuke glances down at her. "No, so can you just tell me where Urumi is already so I can leave?" he snorts angrily as Kaori looks him over carefully before answering the question.

"She's not here at the moment, but she said she'd be at our clan's shrine..." she informs as Sasuke nods slightly and turns his back to the girl. "Thanks, Kid..." he says as he leaves the apartment. Kaori steps out of the doorway and smiles brightly as she waves.

"If thing's don't work out between you and my sister you know where I live!" Sasuke sighs and turns the corner quickly without saying another word.

...

"I still haven't figured out what this mark on my neck is yet. Could it have been from the snake bite?" Urumi thinks aloud as she clenches her neck while she kneels on the floor in front of the alter of the shrine.

She was too distracted by her thoughts to notice that Sasuke was standing in the open doorway watching her. He steps forward, making a dull _thud_ against the wooden floors. Her head shoots up and she whips around to face the boy behind her.

"You should let Kakashi take care of it... Maybe he'd know what the markings on your neck are..." he advises as the kunoichi rises to her feet.

"I'd rather not... I mean... It could be nothing and I don't want to put Kakashi-sensei through all the trouble of helping me if it is..." she declines timidly as she gazes suspiciously at the dark-haired boy.

"What if it's serious? If you keep pushing it aside, you'll wind up dead..." he retorts as Urumi grunts sullenly and stares down at her feet.

"I guess that's just a risk I'm willing to take, right?" she chuckles as she walks towards the door. Sasuke grabs her arm and pulls her away from the door.

"Throwing away your life like that isn't taking a risk... It's being stupid and you know it..." he remarks as she reluctantly looks him in the eyes. She could tell there was something different about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Sasuke... What exactly are you doing here anyway? How did you find me?" she asks, changing the subject abruptly.

"I... Just wanted to see if you were doing alright..." he answers as Urumi unloosens up and her eyes glisten slightly.

There was a tense silence between the two for a brief moment until Urumi manages to force a smile onto her face.

"Thats nice that you were worried about me, Sasuke..." she says as the Uchiha releases her and turns to leave.

"Don't make a big deal out of it, okay? Do you want to come take a walk with me?" he asks stiffly as Urumi stares blankly at his outstretched hand.

"...Sure... I could use the fresh air, I guess..." she agrees as she takes hold of his hand and they leave the shrine together.

"What is Sasuke doing with Urumi? This is so unlike him?" observes Sakura as she watches the two disappear into a nearby crowd. Being the little busy-body that she is, she decides to follow them, but looses sight of Sasuke and Urumi in the jumbled chaos of the crowd.

"So why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" Urumi asks as they reach the other side of the wall of bodies.

"Do I have to have a reason?"

"You know, you should learn to open up more to people..." she consoles as Sasuke pries his hand away from her's and continues walking without answering. Urumi raises an eyebrow at him.

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Are you really this dense? I'm trying to help you out!" she snorts as Sasuke stares up at the cloudless, blue sky in a brief moment of silence.

"I'd rather not talk about this here, okay..."

His reply was barely audible to Urumi above the roar of the crowd behind them even though they were several feet away and still moving.

"Sasuke, I-" he raises a hand to her face and grabs her hand again.

"Shut up and follow me." he orders as he races away from the crowd dragging Urumi behind him like a rag doll.

"Man! I thought I saw them standing here just a second ago..." pants Sakura as she emerges from the crowd and leans forward slightly with her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"What is going on?!" Urumi demands as she pulls backwards against the will of the Uchiha boy. He slowly drives down to a hault.

"Sakura... She's been tailing me all day. I've been trying to get rid of her..." he answers coldly as Urumi chuckles to herself.

"I bet you get that alot Mr. Popularity..." she joshes as Sasuke narrows his eyes at her.

"You shouldn't be talking with Naruto following you around like a little, lovesick puppy all the time..." he counters as Urumi blushes deep red.

"How dare you say such a thing! We're friends, alright?" she corrects as Sasuke chuckles smugly.

"Sure, but that's not what I heard from your little sister..." he tattles as Urumi's blood boils.

"That little! I'm gonna get her when I get home!" she threatens as Sasuke crosses his arms over his chest.

"I thought you were just friends... Why are you making such a fuss?" he prattles as Urumi blushes again.

"That's right, but I'm just curious about what Kaori told you..." she stammers frantically as Sasuke waves her off and continues walking in silence.

"She just said that Naruto was trying to eat your face... Whatever that means..." he scoffs with a smirk as Urumi blushes for the third time today.

"It doesn't mean anything, okay?! Let's just change the subject!" she exclaims as multiple anime veins pop onto her head. They pulsate slightly as she hurries to catch up with the fast paced Uchiha.

"Fine, whatever..." Sasuke sighs as he stuffs his hands into his pockets and turns a corner. Urumi huffs loudly and pulls down on her teal shirt before following after him. She freezes when she looks up at the building Sasuke was standing in front of.

"The infirmary?"

"Yes, I brought you here so Kakashi could examine that bite on your neck. Go inside and I'll wait for you out here." he announces as Urumi narrows her eyes.

"No you wouldn't... Because you aren't the real Sasuke!" she snaps as she runs off towards the woods. Sasuke's suddenly engulfed by a cloud of smoke, and in his place stands Kakashi.

"There's just no getting through to that girl... If she doesn't let me seal that cursemark soon, she could become a threat to this entire village..." he thinks aloud as he adjusts the headband covering the right side of his face.

...

"I can't find Sasuke anywhere!" complains Sakura as she sighs heavily and leans against a wall.

Naruto shoves his way through a small group of people to get to her. He was breathing heavily and appeared to be extremely worn out with the hair in his face matted to his forehead with sweat and a tired look in his eyes.

"Sakura! Do you have any idea where Urumi might be? I haven't seen her all day!" he pants as Sakura crosses her arms over her chest and pouts.

"Like I'd care, but if you really want to know, she's been hanging out with Sasuke..." she snorts as Naruto growls furiously under his breath. He turns to leave and sees a girl who appeared to be Urumi heading into the woods.

"Thanks Sakura!" he blurts quickly before chasing after his friend.

Urumi runs deep into the thicket of the woods, not realizing she going back to the same place where she got her snake bite. She collapses to the ground as the silence of the woods blankets the noise of the raging thoughts in her head.

Suddenly, she hears an evil cackling nearby. She reaches back for her katana and charges at the source. When she does, she sees the mysterious man from before and freezes. Urumi unsheaths her sword and narrows her eyes at the man.

"You! What are you doing here?!" she questions as the man laughs again and disappears in a flash.

"Urumi... You are the chosen one..." he answers from behind her as Urumi's heart stops.

"I-I didn't even see him move..." she thinks aloud as the man cackles again. She swings the katana at him, but he dodges it easily and tosses it aside. The sword flies from Urumi's hands and dive bombs into the ground several yards away. When he does, she notices the newly formed burn on the hand he used to bat her weapon away.

"It'll take alot more than that to kill me, Urumi Makura..." he announces as he laughs and disappears from sight. The cursemark on Urumi's neck sends a surge of pain through her entire body and she falls to her knees again.

"_What did that mean_... _Why is he after me_?" she thinks to herself as she hears a rustling through the bushes behind her.

She quickly digs inside her shuriken pouch and hurls the weapons at the bush where the sound came from. She looks over her shoulder and gasps as she sees that she had attacked Naruto by mistake.

"U-Urumi," Naruto stammers in shock as the kuniochi scurries up to her feet and runs to the spiky haired blonde's aid, "What the hell was that for?!"

Urumi removes the shurikens from the sleeves of his jacket that were pinning him down to a tree trunk.

"I'm sorry... I've just been alittle on edge lately..." she laments as she slips the weapons back into the pouch. The cursemark flares up again and she yelps before falling forward into Naruto's arms.

"I'm taking you home, alright..." he says as he helps her to her feet and they walk back to the apartment complex together.

"_Anywhere is better than here_..." she thinks as she looks back over her shoulder to see the mysterious man from before staring right back at her.

"You are the chosen one..." he repeats as a sinister smile grows on his pale face. She winces and clings to Naruto's arm.

"Can you meet me up on the roof later on tonight?" she asks warily when they reach her apartment. Naruto stares at her blankly for a moment, not knowing what was bothering his dear friend. He nods and she tells him to meet her up on the roof at nine o'clock.

...

"So, Urumi, what did you want to talk about?" he asks as he sits next to her on the rooftop under the starry, night sky.

"Naruto... I... just want to thank you for coming to get me... You really saved my life back there..." she laments timidly as she fiddles with the kunai in her hands. Naruto stares at it warily as she gazes up at the full moon floating in the darkness of the night.

"What do you mean, _saved your life_?" he asks as he raises his eyes to her face. He blushes red when he locks eyes with her.

"During our first mission, before I was bitten by the snake, I saw this man in the forest. Now everytime I go back there, he keeps reappearing... I think he's the one responsible for..." her voice fades suddenly as she covers the cursemark on her neck with her hand. The blonde stares in awe for a moment.

"Have you told Kakashi-sensei about this yet?" he asks as the oldest Makura sister shakes her head.

"I'm going to find this out on my own... I've relied on others for too long..." she says as she slides her low-set ponytail over her shoulder and combs it through with her fingers. Urumi's grip on the kunai tightens as Naruto frowns.

"If you aren't going to let Kakashi-sensei help you, then atleast let me..." he asserts as Urumi's eyes widen and she gazes into his eyes.

"This guy could be dangerous... I don't want you getting hurt... Too many things have gone wrong in my life to let anyone else die on my behalf..." she announces as Naruto stares down at the empty streets below. "But Urumi-" she shakes her head, cutting him off.

"Did you know that I've kept my hair the same ever since my mom died. I thought if I stayed the same everything would go back to normal, but it hasn't... So starting now, I'm letting go of all the pain in my past..." she states as she cuts her hair with the kunai.

Her newly shortened hair floats softly down just past her shoulders. She blows the loose strands of hair, atleast three inches worth, in her hand into the cool, night breeze sweeping over the village. She watches them glimmer under the starlight until they were completely out of sight.

"I don't care how dangerous it'll be, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you..." he assures her as he scoots in closer to her. She smiles faintly and leans her head on his shoulder. He blushes even harder as she holds on to his arm tightly.

"Just promise me that you won't tell Sensei... Okay, Naruto?" she yawns softly as Naruto smiles down at her.

"I won't, but there's something I've been meaning to tell you for some time now, but I've been too afraid to say it before..."

He stares up at the dark sky and waits for a response. When he doesn't get one, he looks back down at Urumi to find that she was sound asleep.

"_I'll just tell her some other time_..." he thinks to himself with a light chuckle as he carries her back down to her room.


	7. Chapter 7

_**CHAPTER 7**_

Urumi wakes up several hours after her talk with Naruto on the roof. She crawls out of bed and creeps carefully through the darkness of the living room until she stubs her toe on the table behind the couch, trying to get to the front door. She hops around disorientedly on one foot as she rubs her sore toe, but looses her balance and falls flat on her face with a loud _thud_. Urumi bites down hard on her bottom lip to try and muffle the obscene words that were caught in her throat.

The noise reverberates quickly through the small apartment and wakes Kaori from her deep and peaceful slumber, which tells you how hard Urumi hit the floor because Kaori is a deep sleeper.

Anyway, the younger sister crawls out of bed hesitantly, not sure if she should go check out the noise or not. With a soothing deep breath and some pep talk, she scurries hurriedly down the hall to see where the noise came from.

When she reaches the living room, she switches on the lights to find her sister still lying on the floor glaring at the table intensely under the yellowish, fluorescent lights. Kaori sighs in relief, then arches her thin eyebrows in curiosity as she tilts her head to the side.

"Sister, where are you going?" Kaori asks as Urumi sits up and sighs heavily, remaining cloaked by a cold silence. Kaori narrows her dark eyes at her sister and storms over to her with her slender hands on her hips.

"I'm just going out for awhile, alright?" Urumi announces stiffly as the younger Makura sister grunts in frustration and stomps her foot heavily on the hardwood floor.

"Where are you going?! If you don't answer my question, I'm forbidding you to ever see your facing-eating boyfriend again!" she shouts as Urumi blushes insanely in anger and in embarrassment.

"First off," Urumi snaps back furiously as she glares flaming daggers at her younger sibling, "Naruto and I are just friends, and secondly, you have absolutely no right to question me like that!"

"Then just tell me where it is that you're trying to go!" coaxes Kaori as Urumi inhales deeply and glances up at the ceiling, then back down to Kaori, who was glaring angrily at her. She pats her thigh lightly and her sister hesitantly sits in her lap, not really knowing what was going on.

"Now that I'm a ninja... I'm going to be asked to go on mission, and some of them might be dangerous..." she says as Kaori notices her sister's bright eyes well up with tears.

"What are you talking about?" she asks quietly as Urumi wipes the tears away with the back of her taped hand quickly.

"If anything ever happens to me... I want you to learn from my mistakes and stay strong for me..." she chokes quietly as Kaori's eyes widen. She shoots up to her feet. Her tear-stained cheeks rosy with anger.

"Don't say that! You aren't going to die! You can't! You promised! You promised me that you wouldn't die!" she sobs as she shakes her head wildly in disbelief. Urumi stands and slips on her shoes, a slight hint of grimace on her face.

"Nobody lives forever, Kaori... The sooner you realize that, the better." she laments before leaving the girl crying in the apartment.

Kaori whimpers silently as she slumps down to her knees with wide eyes and racing thoughts as the door closes.

For the next several weeks, Urumi leaves the apartment before dawn to train everyday. Making sure to avoid the part of the forest where she was bitten by the snake.

"_He'll pay for what he's done to me... I'll kill him no matter what it takes_!"

...

"Hey Urumi, I thought that you might be hungry, so I brought you some lunch..." Naruto announces with a warm smile as he enters the training grounds carrying two trays of steaming hot ramen and chicken dumplings.

At that moment, Urumi was practicing a technique with her katana that sent a wave of chakra-based energy rushing through the trees when she swatted forcefully at the air. Naruto stares at the row of demolished trees in her wake, trying to figure out what it was she was doing. Urumi sheaths the sword swiftly and turns to face the awestruck blonde behind her.

"That's when I first started working on this jutsu of mine... I had to learn to control my chakra output... That's why those trees look like that..." she explains as Naruto stares into her worn eyes.

"So you're serious about this then?" he asks as Urumi narrows her eyes at him. "And why wouldn't I be?" she questions angrily as Naruto looks down at her trembling hands.

Before he could answer her question, Urumi's eyes drift slightly and slowly roll into the back of her head as she sways softly in the light breeze. She begins to loose her balance and falls forward, passing out from exhaustion. He quickly drops the trays and lunges forward to catch her.

When he does, he expects to hear a loud crash from the trays being dropped, but instead he hears a girlish chuckle. He arches an eyebrow and slowly looks up to see what he expected to be an Urumi clone holding the food trays. She smiles nonchalantly down at the kneeling boy as his eyes widen and his mouth gaps open in shock.

Naruto glances down at the Urumi in his arms then back at the clone. "Wait! How did you do that?! I didn't even see you use a hand-sign!" he asks as the clone places the trays on the ground next to him and disappears in a cloud of gray smoke. Urumi looks up at the spiky haired ninja with a weak smile. "Something else I've been working on while I've been out here..." she answers quietly as she disappears as well.

"Oh, come on!" growls Naruto as the real Urumi falls out out of a nearby tree. He slides across the ground on his stomach to try and catch her as she clings to the branch by the soles of her shoes by concentrating her chakra to her feet. The cursemark begins to flare up slightly. It did that everytime she did something that used alot of chakra. She winces lightly and pretends nothing was wrong.

"Sorry about that, Naruto... I've been alittle on edge lately..." she apologizes with a light, airy chuckle as she hops down from the branch. Naruto stands and dusts himself off as he remembers what Urumi told him the night before.

"_She must've heard me coming and thought I was that guy she was telling me about last night_..."

"Don't you think you should tell Kakashi-sensei about this? Maybe he could help..." he suggests, breaking away from his thoughts as Urumi sighs loudly in frustration.

"I already told you, Naruto... I'm doing this on my own..." she laments as she reaches for her ponytail, which she usually tugged on in situations like this to calm herself down, but realizes it was gone. She frowns and stares down at the ground as she rethinks the decision she made the other night.

"Then why don't you just take a break every once in awhile? You've been at this nonstop for weeks now! You can't train like this all the time... Expecially not in your condition!" Naruto says as Urumi shakes her head slowly in disagreement as she looks into the concern blonde's worried eyes.

"I have to if I want to get strong enough to kill him..." she replies as Naruto takes hold of her quivering hand and stares into her eyes.

"Your body's reached it's limit, Urumi! If you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll die! Do you want that to happen?!" he snaps as Urumi returns the gaze, then turns away after a long moment of silence. She stares down at her hands.

They were shaking like crazy and she could barely move them anymore. Urumi closes her eyes tightly. First from the shooting pain radiating from the cursemark, and second, because she realized that her friend was right.

Naruto watches the girl fight with her thoughts for awhile longer until she looks up at him and their eyes meet again. He jumps back alittle and blushes as she rests her head on his shoulder in defeat.

She closes her eyes for a second as the blonde's heart races a mile a minute. She lifts her head up and smiles sweetly. Naruto's tense body loosens up at the sight of her smile and he returns the gesture. That seemed to happen alot whenever Naruto was with Urumi. He felt at peace and loved every second of it.

"I guess I'll take the rest of the day off. I was going to head out early anyway..." she sighs as she sits with Naruto under a shady tree and enjoys the ramen that he brought for her.

Afterwards, they head back to the apartment complex to find a note taped to Urumi's front door.

"Who's it from?" he asks as he inches closer to her to see what the note said. She watches him from the corners of her eyes and smiles slightly before replying.

"It's from Kakashi-sensei... We've been assigned another mission..." she announces as Naruto pumps his fists in the air excitedly with his usual broad and goofy grin on his soft, boyish face.

"I hope it's something good this time!" he cooes happily as Urumi chuckles to herself in amusement at his enthusiasm. He narrows his eyes at her as she points to the note.

"He also said that you shouldn't get your hopes up about going on any dangerous missions..." she adds as the blonde sighs. He frowns angrily as Urumi reads on. "We have to meet him tomorrow morning at the bakery..." she says with a slight, but noticeable questioning tone.

"I wonder what the mission could be..." Naruto thinks aloud as Urumi stuffs the note into her pocket.

She feels a slight and unpleasant shiver go down her spine. Urumi balls her delicate hands into tight fists as a dark and ominous feeling looms over her. "I'm not sure, but I have a pretty bad feeling about it though..." she replies as Naruto scoffs and smirks.

"You're just over-reacting, Urumi. Just don't worry about it." he advices as Urumi forces herself to smile, even though she whole-heartedly disagreed with the blonde.

"Yeah, I guess so... I'm going to go take a nap, so I'll see you later, Naruto..." she lies as she unlocks her front door. He nods and waves.

"Alright, don't push yourself too hard, okay?" he reminds her as she opens the door and smiles. "I'll try not to..." she laments as Naruto heads back into town. She sighs and steps inside, closing the door behind her. She presses her back against the door and slides down to the floor.

"_I know she isn't going to listen to me, but I just hope she doesn't go overboard with this whole training thing..._" thinks Naruto to himself as he takes a walk around town to sort through his thoughts.

"Hey, Naruto!" calls Sakura as she runs to catch up with her teammate. He turns and waves at the heavy breathing, pink haired kunoichi.

"Hey, What's up, Sakura?" he asks when she finally approaches him. She pauses to catch her breath then plants a firm hand on her hip.

"I was just wondering if you got one of these letters about the mission tomorrow..." she responds as Naruto nods casually.

"Yeah, why?" he answers as Sakura pulls out the letter from the pouch hanging off her hip. "I'm just trying to figure out what kind of mission that we have to go on where we have to go to the bakery..." she explains as Naruto shrugs carelessly.

"I dunno, but Urumi sure is acting strange about it..." he replies as Sakura raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asks as Naruto grimaces. He sighs and stares up at the cloudy, blue sky.

"I'm not too sure I should say... Urumi told me this in confidence..." he remarks as Sakura crosses her arms over her chest.

"Do you think it has something to do with that snake bite?" she questions as Naruto's eyes widen, not sure if he should say anything else.

"She...She hasn't fully recovered from that yet..." he mentions as Sakura mouth gaps open. "Do you really think she should be going on this mission then?" she worries as Naruto sighs.

"She's determine to keep moving forward... Even if it means tearing herself apart in the process..." he laments, his cold voice echoing through Sakura's mind as he turns to leave.

...

The members of Squad 7 wake up early the next day to get ready to meet up with their sensei for their next mission. Sasuke arrives at the bakery first, followed by Sakura, then Naruto and Urumi.

"Where is he?" asks Sakura, slightly annoyed as Naruto snorts loudly. He crosses his arms over his chest and stomps his foot hard against the pavement.

"Damn that Kakashi-sensei! He's late again!" he scolds with a pout as Urumi chuckles in amusement.

"Let's just hope he has a good excuse this time..." she remarks with a bright smile as Sasuke scoffs and shoves his hands in his pockets.

"I'd rather not stick around to hear anymore of his lame excuses..." he huffs, turning to leave, but stops dead in his tracks and groans heavily. Everyone else turns to see what Sasuke was quietly complaining about to himself.

Their jaws drop in unison at the sight of their sensei being pulled along by one big, husky dog that was drooling at the mouth, two small, fluffy dogs that couldn't sit still, and one medium-sized dog with shaggy fur. Kakashi chuckles lightly and smiles as he holds out the handful of leashes in his hand to the alarmed gennin.

"Sorry, I'm late... I got caught up in traffic." he apologizes as Naruto growls aggressively. He stomps his feet and he jumps up and down in a tantrum.

"What the hell! We're walking _**DOGS**_?! _**That's**_ the big mission?!" Naruto snaps as Kakashi raises an eyebrow at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you aren't going to go on any mission higher than a D rank until you can prove to me you can handle it?!" he sighs, slightly irritated by the blonde's attitude. Naruto crosses his arms and narrowed his eyes at the sensei as Kakashi hands a leash to him.

"I told you not to get your hopes up, Naruto..." reminds Urumi as she retrieves her leash from the sensei.

"You just can't get it through your thick head, can you?" asks Sakura as Naruto narrows his eyes at her. She sticks out her tongue in response and grabs her leash before heading back to her spot next to Sasuke.

"Maybe next time, Loser..." Sasuke mocks as the blonde growls and shakes a tight fist in the Uchiha's face.

"Sasuke! I swear I'm gonna get you!" he attacks as Sakura's eyes blaze with anger and she slaps Naruto across the back of his head.

"How dare you threaten my Sasuke!" she snaps as Urumi narrows her eyes at the pink-haired kunoichi.

Several anime sweat drops appear around Sakura's face as Urumi grips the handle on her katana and pulls it out of the sheath, her eyes burning fervently with rage.

"Urumi," begins Naruto as he rubs the back of his head, "it's alright. I'm fine..." he assures her as Sakura whimpers.

Urumi snorts angrily and plants a tight fist on her hip and points the tip of the blade at the frighten kuniochi. Sakura flinches and hides behind Sasuke. He rolls his eyes in annoyance. Urumi takes a step forward with the katana still out in front of her.

"I'll teach you to pick on Naruto like that!" she snorts as the blonde's eyes widen at Urumi's intensity.

"I'm alright! Seriously!" the blonde panicks hysterically as he grabs the kunoichi's wrist. Urumi glares once more at Sakura and sheaths her katana before turning around to face the frantic Uzumaki boy.

"Well, I can't just stand back and let people mistreat you like that! It's just not right!" she preaches as the blonde smiles warmly at her.

"I apprieciate you trying to look after me, Urumi..." he says quietly as he holds her hand gently in his. Urumi blushes deeply and stares down at their hands before flashing Naruto a warm and friendly smile. A small, bright yellow butterfly flutters pass them when she does.

"No sweat! That's what I'm here for, right?" she chuckles lightly as Naruto's dog spots the butterfly and begins to pant wildly. The blonde gennin was too distracted to notice that the dog was racing around in circles at his feet, tangling him up in the leash.

Suddenly, the over-sized canine launches forward towards the woods, dragging the helpless and unsuspecting Naruto behind him like a lifeless doll by the foot. Naruto yelps as he skids across the ground.

The rest of Squad 7 stares in awe at the blonde's misfortune. Sakura tries desperately to hold back her laughter, so not to get in anymore trouble with Urumi. Sasuke cracks a slight grin in amusement and Kakashi sighs as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

Urumi gasps and tries to think of a way to help out Naruto. She reaches back into the pouch attached to her hip and grabs a shuriken and throws it at the leash. She hit it dead on, severing the leash from the knucklehead-ninja's foot.

Naruto lies on his back, panting heavily while the dog continues chasing after the butterfly into the woods. Urumi stands over him as he finally opens his eyes with a groan. He jumps, startled by Urumi worry-filled expression.

"Are you hurt, Naruto?" she asks as the blonde slowly sits up, holding his head in his hand from the pain.After a moment he looks back up at his friend with his usual broad, goofy grin and chuckles.

"I'm alright, believe it! Nothing can keep me down!" he exclaims as Sasuke clears his throat loudly.

"What about the dog? Are you just going to let it run off like that?" he questions coldly, narrowing his eyes at Sakura, who was still using him as a shield.

"Sasuke's got a point. Somebody needs to go and get Muffin before something happens to him." Kakashi agrees as the gennin freeze.

"**MUFFIN?!**" they repeat in unison as the sensei rubs the back of his neck and chuckles lightly.

"That was my reaction as well..." he admits with a slight smile as Urumi picks up her shuriken from off the ground.

"I'll do it, seeing that it is my fault."

"You bet it is!" she scolds as Urumi shoots her a death glare. Sakura whimpers and ducks back down behind the Uchiha.

"Urumi. Let me go with you..." Naruto pauses then takes a step forward, lowering his voice as he continued, "You know... Just in case..." Urumi looks over her shoulder at the towering trees leaning against the wind sweeping through the woods, then back to Naruto.

After a short moment of silence, she forces a smile onto her face even though she felt alittle uneasy about going in alone.

"I'll be fine. Trust me." she assures him and herself as she hands him her leash and hesitantly heads into the thicket.

By this time, Muffin was acouple of yards away at the training grounds wandering around aimlessly while exploring the territory.

A kunai shoots down from out of nowhere and kills the dog instantaneously. A boy with short, silver hair pulled back into a ponytail and glasses floats gracefully down from a tree and chuckles lightly. He adjusts the dark-rimmed frames on his face before transforming himself into an exact replica of Muffin.

Meanwhile, Urumi cautiously wades through the bushes of the woods in search for the dog.

"Muffin! Here Boy!" she calls out as she sits and waits for any response. All she hears is the sound of her echo and birds chirping merrily. She sighs heavily and sits under a shady tree. Urumi glances up at the cloudy, afternoon sky.

The same eerie chill from yesterday runs down her spine, causing her to shiver. She hugs her legs tightly to her chest and rests her chin on her knees as she regrets turning down Naruto's offer.

While she sat there, she hears something nearby rustling around in the bushes. Her head shoots up and her heart begins to race. Urumi hesitantly rises to her feet and grips the handle of her katana before heading over to check it out.

With every step she took, her feet got heavier, her heart pumped faster, and her fright was slowly constricting her lungs. Urumi draws out her sword just as she reaches the bush. She closes her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath as she lunges forward into the bush.

The katana blade slams down into the ground, just barely missing Muffin. The dog barks loudly, causing Urumi the jump slightly from shock.

Quickly, all of her fears melt away and she let's a long sigh of relief escape her parched throat. She stares down at her hands, which were aching from her holding onto her sword too hard. Muffin barks again and disappears through the bush. Urumi follows after him, but is caught in a cloud of smoke.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Urumi Makura..."


	8. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER 8**_

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Urumi demands as she reaches back for her katana. The boy with silver hair smirks and chuckles nonchalantly to himself.

"Is that really how you want to greet the person that can help you get revenge on Orochimaru?" he questions smugly as Urumi settles her fingertips on the handle of her sword, debating whether to draw it out or not.

"Who exactly is this Orochimaru, anyway?" she asks suspiciously as the boy pushes up the glasses resting on the tip of his nose higher onto his face. The smirk on his face gradually spreading across his pale face.

"...He's the one that gave you that cursemark on your neck..." he answers, pointing at it as Urumi covers up the markings with her free hand. She narrows her eyes and grunts gruffly.

"How do you know about this? Are you in alliance with him?" she snaps quickly as she takes a step back defensively.

"I've seen markings like those before. You aren't the only one he's done that to..." he replies calmly as Urumi narrows her eyes at him, not yet willing to trust him yet. "Why are you here?"

"Like I told you before, I came to help you get revenge on Orochimaru. That _is_what you want, right?" he repeats as Urumi snorts loudly.

"_This has to be some kind of joke or something! There's no way he'd know anything about this unless he's been tailing me this whole time._" she thinks to herself as she walks forward, passing by the boy cautiously. He's dark eyes following her every move.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I can do this on my own." she denies stiffly as the boy turns around to face her.

"What if I said I could train you to become strong enough to kill Orochimaru in as little as three days?" he persuades as Urumi stops abruptly and hesitantly turns to face the boy. Her expression showing that she was considering the proposition. After a moment or so, she chuckles and shakes her head.

"I doubt that's possible..."

"You have nothing else to loose..."

...

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore! It's been over an hour now! Where is she?!" growls Naruto impatiently as he paces around in circles waiting for Urumi's return with the rest of Squad 7.

"Maybe she got lost or something..." Sakura thinks aloud as Naruto tenses up. He snaps his head around and narrows his eyes at her, appalled that Sakura would say such a thing.

"Don't you dare say that! Urumi's too good of a ninja to do something like that!" he exclaims frustratedly as he buries his face into his hands. He shakes his head, attempting to deny his own doubts clouding his mind.

"Calm down, Naruto. She'll be fine. Give the girl some credit. She is of the Makura Clan, after all." Kakashi advises as Sasuke glances over at Naruto, who was staring hopefully in the direction of the woods.

"Naruto does have a point, Kakashi. Urumi has been gone for quite some time now." he agrees as Naruto looks back at the Uchihain surprise. He didn't think the Uchiha had it in him to show any kind of emotion towards anyone.

"Do you think something bad happened to Urumi? Should we go after her?" Sakura asks the sensei as Kakashiflips the page in his book with a light sigh. He glances over the top of his book to send the fearful gennin a comforting smile before returning to his book.

"Let's give her some more time. Who knows. She might be on her way back as we speak."

...

"You can really do that?" Urumi asks timidly as she slowly steps forward towards the silver haired boy. He nods reassuringly.

"Yes, I can, and all you have to do is come with me..." he answers with a soft smile. Urumi places her hands on her hips and tilts her head to the side.

"I don't make deals with strangers..." she remarks smugly as he chuckles and walks over to her.

"My name's Kabuto Yakushi." he starts towards the brush on the other side of the clearing, "Are you coming or not?" Kabuto asks as he stops when he realizes that the kunoichi didn't move from her spot.

"_Should I really trust this guy_? _I mean_, _I did just meet him after all_..." she asks herself as Kabuto clears his throat loudly, cupping his hand over his mouth.

"I'm the only one that can help you..." he states as Urumi looks up from the ground and into Kabuto's gray eyes. She saw something in his eyes that told her that he was hiding something, but she couldn't tell what it was because she was too distracted by his offer.

She just couldn't resist it. Vengeance was running through her veins- taking over her mind- so much so, she couldn't even stop herself from following the Yakushi boy through a familiar part of the woods that sent chills down her spine.

Urumi shuffles closely behind Kabuto while she grips the handle of her katana tightly. He stops abruptly, causing the jumpy kunoichi to bump into him. He chuckles and disappears suddenly.

Now alone, Urumi scans over the area cautiously. Her eyes widen when she realizes where she was. She fidgets.

All the fear she experienced earlier, rushes back in a flash, giving her a headache. Urumi doubles over from the pain errupting in her skull. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice that Kabuto standing behind her now.

By the time she realizes this, the silver haired boy had already gathered a ball of chakra in his palm and slammed it into Urumi's back before she could even blink. The chakra surges up her spine, momentarily causing her to loose all mobility. She passes out onto the ground as Kabuto smirks down upon her.

"I thought you would be alot stronger. Considering how famous your clan is throughout the hidden villages..." he snorts as he kneels down beside her, holding her head up by her hair.

"You bastard! What kind of cheap trick are you trying to pull?!" Urumi snaps back as she tries to pull away, but fails. Her body was completely numb and she couldn't feel her legs. It'd be awhile before she'd be mobile again.

"Nice work, Kabuto..." hisses a familiar voice as a dark figure approaches the two shinobi. Kabuto drops Urumi and rises to his feet, turning to bow and smile at the figure.

"She let her fears get the best of her, so it made the job alot easier but," he glances down at the kunoichi as he continues, " are you sure you want to use such a pathetic ninja like her, Lord Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru's golden eyes glisten slightly as he smirks in response.

"Despite her appearance, she is incredibly strong. Her clan has a history of carrying specially equipped katana's that are linked with their chakra networks. They can absorb an enemy's chakra through said blade and become stronger, but I doubt she has been able to unlock it though, which is very displeasing..."

Kabuto crosses his arms as he looks over the katana on Urumi'sback. He couldn't understand why his master would go to such great lengths for a katana. Of course, it wasn't just your ordinary sword. No, this heirloom of the Makura has powers unlike any other, but harnessing them was a totally different story.

"Why not just take the sword, Lord Orochimaru?"

"The katanas are laced with a special, unbreakable seal that repels others from using it, so in order to gain the power of the sword, I have to _use_ her." Orochimaru explains as he snatches Urumi up by the collar of her shirt and stares her dead in the eyes.

Every muscle in her body screams for her to move- to run and hide- but she was too frozen by fear and still possessed by paralysis to react. She closes her eyes tightly in an attempt to escape from the sneering grin of Orochimaru. He drops her carelessly back onto the ground, the girl wincing from the impact.

"_Naruto_... _I'm sorry_... _I'm sorry for being such a coward_..."

...

Naruto suddenly stops pacing. His eyes widen and his heart stops briefly. As if Urumi's thoughts were being transmitted directly to him, the spiky haired ninja knew that something had gone wrong and that she needed help. He takes off into a full sprint towards the woods immediately, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"Naruto! Where are you going?" Sakura calls after him as Naruto looks over his shoulder, his eyes wide in panic.

"Urumi's in trouble! I have to go help her!" he shouts as he turns back around. He runs into Kakashi, who had teleported himself in front of the blonde. The Uzumaki boy falls over backward and stares up at the jonin.

"I thought I told you to wait..." Kakashi reminds the gennin as Naruto growls and narrows his eyes angrily at the sensei. At this point he couldn't care less about what the man said. All he knew, or what he thought he knew, was that Urumi was in trouble.

"Get out of the way! Urumi's in danger and needs my help! Don't you understand that?!" he snarls furiously as he rises from the pavement. Kakashi closes his book with a dull _thud_ and sighs, annoyed by the boy's stubborness.

"You stay here, and I'll go check it out." he commands as Naruto stares him down, determination hidden deep within his eyes.

"But Kakashi-sensei-"

"No, Naruto!" the sensei interrupts aggressively as the blonde hesitantly stands down and heads back to the rest of his team. He flops down onto the dirt, crossing his legs Indian-style. He pouts and watches the back of his sensei slowly diminish into the background.

"You're probably just paranoid, Naruto..." Sakura observes as Sasuke opens his eyes and looks up from the ground. The dark orbs were dull and unfeeling, just like always.

"I feel it too, Naruto... Something has happened to Urumi..." he says stiffly, without any emotion whatsoever. Naruto stares blankly at the Uchiha in awe. He was shocked that he even cared about Urumi, nonetheless tried to comfort him. Silence quickly blanketed the three gennin as Kakashi enters the woods alone.

"_Orochimaru has finally shown his face, huh_?" Kakashi thinks to himself as he flies from branch to branch in search of any sign of Urumi. He suddenly freezes when he spots the lifeless body of Muffin lying nearby. Kakashi sighes heavily and continues forward.

"That's going to be hard to explain..."

...

"Grrr!! Damn that Kakashi-sensei! What's his problem anyway?!" complains Naruto, five minutes after the squad 7 sensei left. During this entire time, the blonde had been ranting on and on about how unfair it was to not be allowed to help find Urumi. C'mon! It was his idea anyway!!

"He probably thought that you'd get in the way or something. You aren't the brightest crayon in the box, ya' know..." scoffs Sakura with a light chuckle as Naruto narrows his eyes at her.

"Well, neither are you if you can't tell Sasuke isn't interested in you!!" the blonde shoots back as the pink-haired kunoichi glares daggers at him.

"Naruto, you bastard!! You're going to pay for that!!" Sakura screams as she raises a tight fist in the air. At this point, Naruto has realized that he'd crossed the line. He raises his arms to his face, preparing himself for impact, but Sasuke stops her before she could land a punch on him.

"Will you two idiots stop bickering?! If you haven't noticed, the situation on our hands has just become serious..." he interrupts as Sakura and Naruto both calm down. "What do you mean, Sasuke?" asks the fangirl kunoichi, her eyelashes batting innocently as Naruto rolls his eyes at Sakura.

The Uchiha motions towards the woods where sounds of battle could be heard from afar. Naruto and Sakura both glance at each other and then at Sasuke again. "Do you think..." Sakura's voice begins to trail off.

"Urumi...!" Naruto thinks aloud as his fists tighten at his sides. He turns on his heels and begins to run off towards the sounds, but is stopped by Sakura's voice yelling from behind him. "You can't just leave! What about the dogs?!"

Naruto stops and turns towards the rest of his squad. Unsure of what to do he looks around for anything that could be of any use. Suddenly, a smirk spreads across his face as he sees Shikamaru Nara leaving the bakery with a bag in his left hand.

"Hey! Shikamaru! Shikamaru, I need you to do me a favor..." he calls out as the pineapple haired shinobi turns around. He stares blankly at the grinning blonde in his usually way and sighs heavily.

"What do you want, Naruto? I'm not in the best of moods today. Choji woke me up during my afternoon nap to buy him doughnuts, so I'm alittle pissed right now..." he grunts in his low, dull voice as Naruto motions for Sakura to come over with the dogs. She hands him the leashes and waves at Shikamaru. He lazily waves back.

Just before the Nara could drop his hand back down to his side, Naruto ties the leashes to his wrist. "Thanks, Shika! You're a lifesaver!" the blonde chuckles as he runs into the woods with Sasuke and Sakura right behind him.

"What the hell, Naruto?!" he growls angrily as the dogs go wild and dash down the street, dragging idle the Nara behind them. Today just isn't his day...

...

"So you seriously thought that you were a match for me? You're such a fool, Hatake..." Orochimaru hisses as he tosses Kakashi's battered body to the side. Kakashi staggers back up to his feet, breathing heavily and barely able to move.

"I'm not going to let you take her, you snake!" snaps Kakashi as he charges at the Legendary Sannin.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura hide in a nearby bush, watching the battle. An angry growl escapes Naruto's throat when he doesn't see Urumi anywhere.

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't look too good..." Sakura notes quietly as she raises a trembling hand up to her lips warily.

"But who's the man with him?" questions Sasuke as Naruto turns to face his teammates. "Who cares! We have to find Urumi!" Naruto barks as Sakura narrows her eyes at him.

"Naruto! How can you be so heartless?! That's our sensei!" she reminds him as Sasuke slaps his hands over their mouths. "Keep it down you two! Do you want to get caught?!" he orders as Naruto swats the Uchiha's hand away aggressively.

"It's too late for that..." chuckles Orochimaru as he appears behind the gennin. The freeze up instantly at the sound of the dark haired sannin's voice. Chills run down their spines in unison, a type of fear neither of them had ever experienced before takes their breath, studded expressions occupying their washed out faces.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura! Go save Urumi! She's being taken away by Orochimaru's assistant!" Kakashi commands as he throws a shuriken at the sannin in a desperate attempt to distract him.

"So these are your students, eh? Well, I'll make sure that they suffer the same fate as you!" he cackles as he catches the shuriken and hurls it back at the sensei.

"This guy, Orochimaru... It's almost like... Looking at _Death_ itself..." thinks Sasuke as he stares up at Orochimaru with wide-eyes. Kakashi dodge rolls away from the shuriken speeding his way.

"Didn't you hear me?! Leave!!" he repeats as Orochimaru coughs up a sword from his mouth and swings it at the panicking gennin.

Just then, Kakashi appears infront of them holding off the sannin's blade with with his bare hands. "Protecting your students... You're more pathetic than I thought..." sneers Orochimaru as Kakashi looks over his shoulder at the gennin.

"Go! Before it's too late!" he bellows as Sakura shakes her head hesitantly.

"...B-but Kakashi-sensei..." she whimpers helplessly as the sensei grunts loudly in pain. "Now!!" he asserts as Naruto and Sasuke scramble to their feet and take Sakura away.

"What does this creep want with Urumi anyway?" asks Naruto after they escape from Orochimaru's grasp, finally recovering from their scare.

"...I'm not sure, but by the looks of it, they're close by..." Sasuke announces as he speeds up his pace. Naruto furrows his brow, totally confused. He didn't hear or see anything.

"I hear it too, Sasuke." Sakura chimes in as she follows right behind the Uchiha.

"What are you two blabbering about?" questions Naruto as he hurries to catch up with his teammates.

"Shut up and listen..." Sasuke snorts as angry profanities fill the air, a smile breaking upon the blonde's downturned lips.

"That has to be Urumi! C'mon!" Naruto chortles happily as he speeds up ahead of Sasuke and follows the sound of Urumi's voice echoing through the forest.

...

"Where the hell are you taking me, you low-down, dirty bastard?!" screams Urumi as Kabuto remains silent, absorbing all of the kunoichi's verbal abuse. He continues to float from tree to tree with the still paralysed Urumi on his back.

Irritated with Kabuto's silence, Urumi concentrates all of her energy in trying to break free from the paralysis. Fortunately for her, it was already begining to wear off. She carefully times Kabuto's jumps and kicks out his foot from under him before he touches down on the next branch, causing him to fall several feet through the air and onto the ground.

Kabuto was the first to rise to his feet. Blood trickles down his face from the gash above his right eye.

"Why you little brat... You're lucky Lord Orochimaru holds you so dearly, or else I would've killed you for that..." he threatens as he kicks Urumi in her side, sending her flying across the dirt. She tries with all her strength to get up, but the paralysis hadn't fully worn off yet. "Well, that shut you up..." Kabuto chuckles as he walks over to Urumi to continue towards the border.

"Take one step closer and you're dead!!" booms Naruto as he drops down infront of Urumi defensively.

With their plan of ambush thrown out the window, Sasuke and Sakura are forced to follow in behind him. Kabuto laughs and places a hand over the cut above his eye. When he removes his hand, the wound is repaired.

"He has to be a medical ninja!" gasps Sakura as Naruto kneels down beside Urumi, currently not paying anymore attention to Kabuto.

"Are you okay, Urumi? Are you hurt?" he asks as he holds the young girl in his arms. Her eyes flutter open and she flashes a meek smile at him. "Uhn... N-naruto...?" she manages to say before a kunai shoots passes the two of them.

"You three are getting in my way, so I'm going to have to kill you..." Kabuto interrupts as he pushes up his glasses on his nose with a chuckle.

...

Orochimaru swings his sword at the jonin again. Kakashi dodges it to the best of his ability and pulls out a kunai as Orochimaru sweeps the sword through the air at him once more. He blocks it with the kunai... Just barely. Orochimaru puts more pressure onto the sword and slowly forces Kakashi onto his knees relcutantely.

The sannin chuckles maniacly and breaks away swiftly, thrashing his sword at the jonin one last time, but before Kakashi could regain his footing and deflect the attack, the blade of the sannin's sword burries into his flesh. Kakashi sputters and collapses to the ground, coughing up blood periodically.

"...Y-you... Bastard..." he gurgles weakly as Orochimaru licks the blood off his sword with his freakishly long tongue. "I hope you enjoy my parting gift, Kakashi Hatake..."


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9**_

"Parting gift? What the hell is that suppose to mean?" thinks Kakashi as Orochimaru stands triumphantly over him. Blood gushed from the wound in his side, dripping onto the ground at a steady pace. It stains the dirt as it quickly absorbs into the ground. His arms became numb and the sensei couldn't tell if it was from the blood loss or whatever elixir Orochimaru put into the blade that pierced him.

Unable to find the strength to keep himself up, Kakashi falls onto his stomach again. His breathing shallows and his eyes flutter shut. The last image that passes through his mind was of the murderous sannin's back leaving the scene with his head held back in laughter.

"Where do you think you're going, Orochimaru?" asks Kakashi mockingly as he drops down from a tree branch and punches the sannin in the face. He stumbles backward holding his cheek and turns to look at the totally unharmed Kakashi standing in front of him. He turns around to the other Kakashi laying motionless on the ground.

"He must've used the last of his chakra to create a clone, but I'll make sure to put you out of your misery as soon as possible Hatake!" Orochimaru scoffs as he raises to his feet and disappears in a flash. He reestablishes himself beside the Kakashi laying on the ground and stabs his sword through the sensei's back.

Unexpected to Orochimaru, Kakashi dissolves into a cloud of smoke before the blade could touch him a second time.

...

The nervousness in Naruto's body was quickly overshadowed by anger from Kabuto's threat. He lifts Urumi off of the ground and leans her against a nearby tree before facing the silver-haired boy again.

"Urumi, I want you to watch as I kick this guy's ass for you, 'kay?" Sasuke and Sakura were surprised at the confidence in his voice. This time it wasn't his usual boastfulness... Which was pretty unusual for the blonde. Kabuto furrows his eyebrows and frowns at Naruto's remark.

"We'll see about that, Squirt." he shoots back testily as Naruto unlatches the top of his shuriken holster. Sakura stares worriedly at Naruto then at Kabuto. The suspense in the air was thick and it felt as if time was standing still. Sasuke glances over towards Urumi, then leans over to Sakura. Her worries were quickly pushed aside by her fan-girlish instincts. Her face blushes as pink as her hair and her legs become jello.

"Take Urumi back to the village, and hideout for awhile..." he whispers into her ear as she tries her best to hold back a squeal of delight. When Sasuke leans away, she quickly pulls herself together and nods. Sakura glances over towards the motionless battle between Naruto and Kabuto then slowly inches her way over to her fellow kunoichi teammate.

Urumi manages to tilt her head in Sakura's direction just before her eyes widen in astonishment. Sakura kneels down beside her and narrows her eyes in confusion at the expression on Urumi's face.

"Get out of the way, Sakura!" Urumi screams as Sakura jumps at the booming command. She parts her lips to snap back at the wounded kunoichi, but was abruptly stopped by Sasuke, who swooped down and carried the two female ninja away before a flurry of poisonous senbon needles that impacted the tree they were recently at.Naruto, unfortunately, didn't move fast enough to dodge the needles.

Several of the senbon were jammed into his left leg. He lies on the ground on his back, holding his injured leg as he glares disdainfully at Kabuto. Slowly, he rises to his feet, unstable at first, but he manages to keep his balance after awhile. He tightens his fists from the throbbing pain in his leg, but he was too blinded by rage to care. The blonde lets out a growl, but his voice was slightly distorted.

Suddenly, Naruto's engulfed by blazing, orange chakra. His eyes turn a bloodshot red and the whisker-like stripes on his cheeks feather out. His growling becomes louder as the nails on his hands grow long, and callous. The needles in his leg simultaneously burst from his skin as the wounds are repaired at rapid speeds.

"What's happening to him?" asks Sakura fearfully as Sasuke gazes at the sight in pure disbelief. He was stunned and couldn't utter a word otherwise. Urumi, who was being held up by what little mobility she had in her arms, began to stand. Her gaze went from her fallen sword by the tree she was once perched against, then to Naruto.

"The seal... The demon's chakra must be leaking from the seal..." she utters under her breath as the newly transformed Naruto assails Kabuto on all fours. His speed and agility had almost doubled and so did his strength. Fists fly, and weapons soar through the air. The entire scene is a jumbled blur.

"_When did Naruto get so strong_...?" Sasuke thinks to himself as he continues to watch the battle in an indignant silence. "Sasuke, where'd Urumi go?" gasps Sakura as the pair look around for the auburn-haired kunoichi.

The battle between Naruto and Kabuto halts abruptly when a sharp clank was heard.

"Urumi...?" Naruto utters breathlessly as the kunoichi pushes against the blade of her katana, sending Kabuto flying into the tree trunk behind him.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura... You have to go back to the village and warn everyone about Orochimaru." she instructs hoarsely as Kabuto begins to stand again.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late for that, Urumi. Lord Orochimaru's plan is already in motion, and there's nothing you can do that will stop it now!" the medical ninja cackles manically as he steps forward. Urumi's grip on the handle of her katana tightens. Naruto narrows his crimson red eyes and jumps in front of Urumi protectively.

"What are you planning to do?!" he questions angrily as Kabuto continues to drift forward. "All will be revealed in due time, my little friend..." he chuckles as a mischievous smirk spreads across his face.

"They're going to kill the Hokage and destroy the Hidden Leaf Village if we don't stop them!" Urumi barks as Sakura gasps.

You can't do that! We won't let you!" she snaps as she runs to Urumi's side defensively. Urumi shakes her head and pushes her away. "Listen to me! The whole village will be in danger if you don't leave now!" she repeats as Naruto looks back over his shoulder at her. He scowls and turns back to face Kabuto.

"I'm not leaving you here alone, Urumi..." he grunts as Urumi's eyes dart to the blonde-haired ninja. She slowly lowers her head and drops her sword to her side.

"I'm sorry," Urumi begins as she drives the side of her hand into the back of Naruto's neck, "but I have to do this on my own. Forgive me..."

...

"_I don't know how much longer I can keep this up_... _My chakra is running low_..." Kakashi thinks to himself as his battle with Orochimaru drags on. His movements had become slower and sloppier and his jutsu's weren't as effective. If Orochimaru wanted to, he could have killed the sensei easily at this point, but it seemed he was more interested in toying with Kakashi instead. The sensei tried his best to evade the sannin's fists, but wasn't too lucky.

After the first few blows, Kakashi just seemed to stop getting up. He hadn't given up, not in the least, but he just couldn't find the strength anymore.

Orochimaru laughs in amusement. "Just face it, Hatake. You just don't have what it takes to beat me!"

Kakashi doesn't reply. He was too caught up in his thoughts to pay attention to Orochimaru's ramblings. "I'm going to have to make this last bit of chakra count," he thinks aloud as he slowly raises to his feet, "Lightning Blade!"

...

Naruto's eyes widen from the impact and he slowly changes back to his original state before he passes out. Urumi catches him quickly and holds his limp body out to Sakura. She was stunned and was about to ask why Urumi attacked Naruto like that when she looked into the auburn-haired konoichi's eyes. Urumi's eyes were clouded with tears, but behind those tears was determination. She was determind to make everything right again and do whatever it took to do it.

"Take him and get as far away from here as possible!" she orders as the pink-haired kunoichi grabs Naruto and drags him over to Sasuke, who hoists the blonde onto his back and takes off into the trees.

About halfway back to the village, Naruto awakens confused and dazed. "What took you so long, Loser? She hit you that hard?" Sasuke remarks as Naruto lifts his head to look at his surroundings. "Shut up, Sasuke... Where's Urumi?" he groans sleepily as he rubs his eyes.

"She's battling Kabuto to give us time to warn the village..." Sakura answers quietly as Naruto growls and pounds his fists into Sasuke's back. "Let me go! I have to go back! We can't just leave her! Let go of me!" the blonde explodes as Sasuke tries his best to withstand the blows.

But soon, Naruto's fists turn to stone against Sasuke's flesh and he falls to the ground. Naruto grabs onto a nearby branch and begins to turn back when Sakura calls out to him.

"Naruto! Can't you get it through your thick head that she's trying to protect you?! She didn't want you to get hurt and that's why she did what she did!" Sakura explains as she helps Sasuke to his feet. "Urumi can't take him by herself! She's still way too weak! She'll get clobbered if I don't go back!" Naruto snaps as Sasuke shrugs Sakura off. She pouts and sighs.

"She didn't look all that weak to me when she slammed that Kabuto guy into a tree..." she comments as Sasuke snickers quietly to himself. "Or when she knocked your ass out cold..." he adds mockingly as Naruto stares up at the blazing sun and calm, blue sky peeking out from between the lush, green leaves. He closes his eyes and exhales deeply, all his doubts and worries seem to wash away with the breeze.

"Listen. As much as I'd like to stand around and do nothing, we have to get to the village before it's too late!" Sakura reminds her teammates as Naruto slips away towards the village in silence. Sasuke and Sakura follow close behind him.

"Be careful... Urumi..."

...

"You and your little friends are becoming a real nuisance..." Kabuto snorts testily as he begins walking in the direction Naruto and the others left. Urumi narrows her eyes and blocks his path.

"Don't walk away from me! I'm not through with you yet!" she barks aggressively as a smirk creeps slowly onto Kabuto's face. "Yes, but I am. Now get out of the way." he remarks coldly as Urumi shoots forward, swinging her katana furiously at the silver-haired boy.

Kabuto countered every blow she fired at him with the kunai knives clutched in his hands. Urumi's anger grew as Kabuto's face remained frozen with that same arrogant smirk from before. "_I have to stall him for as long as possible_! _Even if it means sacrificing my life to do so_!"

.

"The Lightning Blade? How impressive, but your actions are too late, Hatake!" Orochimaru cackles as the sensei charges at the sannin with a blazing, blue ball of chakra focused in his palm. Orochimaru easily dodges the attack, but Kakashi manages to turn himself around at the last minute and catch him in the side. The sannin pushes himself away and grips his wound.

Luckily for him, the Lightning Blade had only grazed him and he didn't recieve the full extent of the blow. "_Dammit_! _I'm running out of options_! _I don't know how much longer I can keep this up_!"

.

"How do you think Urumi is holding up?" asks Sakura, breaking the silence between her and her teammates. Naruto picks up his pace and remains silent. He had to keep his mind off of her if he was going to be of any use to the rest of his squad.

"I think it's best if you don't talk about that now..." advises Sasuke emotionlessly as Sakura looks back over her shoulder at the green trees of the woods. "I hope she's alright..."

.

Urumi continues to slash her blade at Kabuto repeatedly, but still no luck. Her plans of wearing him down were back firing as her movements slow down and her attacks became easily parried.

"How pathetic! I'm begining to question Lord Orochimaru's decision to use you for his plan..." Kabuto comments as he swings his kunai at Urumi. She attempts to block it with her katana, but the force behind the blow knocked it out of her hands. The blade of the kunai etches into Urumi's cheek and she falls to her knees at Kabuto's feet. He kicks her to the side and follows after the rest of the Squad 7 genin.

.

Sasuke suddenly stops on a tree branch. His eyes were glazed over with shock as he turns his back on Naruto and Sakura and stares back into the trees of the woods.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" asks the fangirl kunoichi as Naruto stops and turns to face his teammates.

"What's the hold up, Sasuke?!" he questions as the Uchiha immediately hurries off towards the village.

"We have to hurry. We have company." he reveals as he approaches Naruto. Sakura gasps and follows them. "Do you mean Orochimaru's assistant, Kabuto?" she asks as Sasuke nods. "Well, what are we standing around for?! Let's go warn the village!" Naruto exclaims as they all head for town.

When they finally emerge from the woods, they hear a russling from behind them. The three genin turn to see Kabuto smirking back at them.

"Where are you three heading in such a rush?" he asks nonchalantly as Naruto growls intensly.

"What did you do with Urumi?!" he demands as the silver-haired shinobi chuckles. "You shouldn't worry about her. She wasn't even worth killing." he snickers mockingly as Naruto's fists tighten. "What did you say?!" he snarls defensively as Kabuto's smirk grows in amusement.

Kabuto's lips begin to part, but before a sound could escape his throat, a blade of a sword pierced his back. He coughs up blood and falls to his knees before collapsing onto the ground.

Naruto's eyes widen in shock as Urumi pulls out her katana from the corpse. It was glowing intensely blue, despite the fact it was covered in blood.

Power was surging through the Makura and it was noticable by all three of the genin. Her once tranquil eyes were now cloaked by rage and anger. But the most shocking part of it all was that the entire right side of her body was covered with mysterious markings. Markings from the cursemark Orochimaru had given her. She stares down at her hands and her lips curve into a smirk.

"One down. One to go." Urumi says with a chuckle, but soon it grows into a manical cackling. The genin remain silent as she runs off into the woods again.

Naruto suddenly falls to his knees. Everything he wanted to say to Urumi was caught in his throat, slowly choking him. The silence that overcame him was killing him on the inside and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Naruto... Are you okay?" asks Sakura as the blonde raises his hands to his face. He shakes his head. "... Did you see...? The look in her eyes- did you see it?" he stammers as tears slide down his cheeks. Sakura kneels down beside him to comfort him, but he pushes her away and runs into the woods after Urumi.

"Sasuke! We have to go after him!" Sakura exclaims as Sasuke shakes the deadpan expression from his face and follows the pink-haired kunoichi into the woods.

"_I've never seen power like that before_... _Could that be from Orochimaru_?" the Uchiha thinks to himself as him and Sakura sail through the trees.

.

"You're starting to bore me, Hatake. I think it's time to put you out of your misery once and for all!" the sannin announces as Urumi bursts through the brush and into the clearing.

"Orochimaru! Let him be! Your business is with me!" she booms as she points her blade at him. Orochimaru smiles and looks back at the kunoichi in surprise.

"Ah, Urumi. I'm so very thrilled you were able to unlock that hidden ability of your's for me, but by the looks of it, you did alot more than just that..." he chuckles as Kakashi eyes the blood dripping from Urumi's katana.

"_This is exactly what I feared_..." he thinks to himself as Orochimaru holds out his hand to the young girl.

"Do you like that feeling? That feeling of power running through your veins? That's what it's like to be a **_true_ member of the Makura clan! That's what you were ****_bred_ to feel, Urumi!" he says as Urumi lowers her sword. "What do you mean ****_bred_?!" Urumi questions gruffly as Kakashi narrows his eyes at the sannin. "Shut up! Don't tell her anything more!" he instructs as Orochimaru continues on.**

"You're clan was once used as test subjects for the creation of an elite class of fighting shinobi. Your whole purpose on this earth was to kill!" the sannin explains as Urumi's grip on the handle of her sword tightens. "It's not true... It can't be... It's not true!" Urumi screams as she flies toward Orochimaru with her katana held above her head.

.

Naruto finally arrives at the clearing where Urumi was battling Orochimaru. She was overwhelming him with a furious wave of successive attacks. The sannin could barely keep pace with her because her movements were so fast.

Sasuke and Sakura grab Naruto and drag him away from the area. "What are you doing?! Let go of me!" the blonde protests angrily as he kicks his feet in the air. "There's nothing we can do here, Naruto! We have to go!" Sakura explains as she pulls on Naruto's arm harder.

"But... Urumi... We can't just leave her!" Naruto grunts as he continues to pull away from his teammates. "We don't have time for this, Naruto! We have to go warn the village!" Sakura reminds him as Naruto manages to rip away from the two. "You can go on your own!" He snaps as he turns back to the clearing. Sakura snorts and turns to leave.

"Come on, Sasuke. It looks like Naruto's not coming." she sighs as Sasuke remains silent. He watches Urumi fight Orochimaru for a moment longer as thoughts of insuperiority race through his mind. The Uchiha growls angrily and quickly leaves for town, leaving Sakura behind in his wake.

.

"I'm through playing games with you! I'm going to finish this now!" Urumi explodes as she swings her blade at the sannin. He tries to block it with his sword, but miss reads her movements. The blade of her katana buries into his forearm, and it slowly begins to absorb his chakra.

He pulls away from her, but it was too late. His entire right arm had become numb and he couldn't move it anymore. He grips his wound and smirks weakly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"You can't run from me forever, Urumi... The next time we meet, there will be no escape!"

The kunoichi drops her sword to her side and collapses onto the ground as the cursemark recedes. Kakashi stands and approaches her carefully as Naruto errupts from the brush and races towards the two.

"Kakashi-sensei! Is she okay?!" he calls out to the sensei as Kakashi scoops up the kunoichi into his arms. "She'll be fine, but I'm going to have to take her to the hospital." he assures the genin as Naruto stares at him in concern. "You're going to seal the cursemark, aren't you?" he asks as the sensei sighs heavily and nods. "I have to. If I leave it the way it is, She might..."

Kakashi's voice trails off. Naruto lowers his head and bites his bottom lip. "Do you think Orochimaru will come back?" he asks timidly as Kakashi walks with him back into town. "He might, but with the injuries Urumi inflicted on him, it'll probably be awhile..." he assumes as he stares down at the limp body in his arms.

"_The blood-thirst in her eyes, the rage in her voice_. _It's all because of Orochimaru_, _and I'm not about to let him get away with it_..."


	10. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER 10**_

"Orochimaru has returned, huh?" sighs the Third Hokage as he sloutches forward at his desk. Sakura nods as Sasuke stands by the door of the Hokage's office in a solemn silence.

"Yes, we saw him in the woods not too long ago. He plans to destroy the Leaf Village." she informs him as the Hokage stands from his chair and turns to face the large window behind his desk.

"Thank you. Now will you excuse me, I have to make a phone call..." the Hokage says as he turns back to his desk. Sakura bows and heads out of the office after Sasuke.

The Hokage picks up the phone on the far side of his desk and rapidly dials a number. He holds the phone up to his ear and listens to the dull dialtone until someone finally answers.

"Hello? I'm kinda busy at the moment, so can you make this quick?" answers the voice on the other line. The Hokage's forehead furrows impatiently.

"Listen, I need you to do me a favor and come out to Konohagkure for a few days. It's really important."

"Is that you, Sarutobi-sensei? I haven't heard from you in ages!" The voice on the other line laughs heartily. The Hokage could hear the sound of water running and various women giggling drunkenly. "Didn't you hear what I just said?!" The Hokage pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Yeah, yeah. How come you only call me when there's some sort of problem? Why can't we just hangout? I could definately use your help with my _**research**_, you know..."

"How soon can you come out here?" The Hokage's face darkens as a vein in his head begins to pulsate intensely. "Tomorrow morning, I guess..."

"Good. When you arrive, come straight to my office and I'll discuss the details with you then."

"Sure, sounds good, but are you positive you don't want to help me with my _**research**_? It'll be fun!" the voice persuades as the Hokage immediately slams the phone back on the receiver, instantly disconnecting the line. He sighs and buries his face in his hands.

"Sometimes I wonder about that boy..."

...

After Sasuke and Sakura's visit to the Hokage's office, the village leader sends a small group of Anbu Black Ops to inspect the woods. They discard the dead bodies of Muffin and Kabuto and make sure to remind the members of Squad 7 not to spread the news about Orochimaru's return. The cloaked ninja disappear sooner than they arrived.

That very same day, Kakashi finally seals Urumi's cursemark and admits her to the hospital. Almost immediately, Naruto arrives at the hospital to check up on the kunoichi. He sits in the waiting room for what seems like hours, but was really only about twenty minutes. A nurse approaches him and quietly calls him over. He practically jumps out of his skin from anxiety.

As the young woman leads him down the narrow halls of the hospital, the blonde ninja's heart begins to pound heavily in his throat, his lungs felt constrained to the rhythm of their footsteps, and he could hardly breath. The nurse stops in front of the last door at the end of the hallway.

"Try not to stay in there for too long. She needs all the rest she can get." The nurse says in a soft, dainty voice. Naruto nods and the nurse turns the corner and vanishes up the stairs.

The blonde ninja reaches out for the door handle to Urumi's room, but freezes up abruptly. His legs become lead and a lump forms in his throat. He quickly shakes it off and reaches out his hand again. He hesitates for a second time. Naruto scowls at his cowardice and manages to wrap his fingers around the handle.

Suddenly, all the memories from Kabuto's death flood into his mind at once. He gasps and stumbles backward against the wall opposite of the door. Naruto cups his hands over his ears to try and escape from the images of blood. He stays in this position for awhile until his knees finally give in on him, and he slumps onto the linoleum floor. His legs curve into his chest and he rests his forehead on top of them.

Tears form in his eyes when he realizes what had happened to him. In his mind, he denied it, but deep down he knew it was true. He was afraid of her- his best and only friend. His stomach tightens at the thought. His body couldn't take the tension anymore and he becomes queasy. Naruto runs to the bathroom, into the nearest stall he could find, and vomits.

When he finishes several moments later, he staggers out of the stall and slouches over the pedestal sink. He turns the handle of the faucet and cups his hands under the running water, splashing the cold liquid against his fiery cheeks. Naruto combs his wet hands through his spiky hair before inhaling deeply and looking up into the mirror. His reflection was worn and stared back at him with a sadness hidden in his eyes.

Soon, his reflection shatters along with the mirror on the wall as Naruto begins brutally punching at the glass. Blood drips into the sink and flows down the drain from the open wounds on the blonde ninja's knuckles. The wounds rapidly heal in an instant. It was almost like his body was screaming for him to forget the pain, but he couldn't. He decided to ignore this feeling because quite frankly, he didn't care. He was too disgusted with himself to care about anything anymore.

The only woman he had ever truly loved, he was afraid to even get close to her, but that was the one thing he desired most.

He storms out the bathroom and stops in the middle of the hallway. Naruto looks down the hall at Urumi's room before heading back down there himself. He didn't attempt to enter the room again. Instead, he peers inside through a small, uncovered window by the door that had a perfect view of the kunoichi's bed.

He could see a respirator sitting at her bedside, but she was breathing on her own. He figured it must've been a precaution. His eyes linger to her sheathed sword propped against her bedside table by the window opposite of him. Naruto quickly averts his eyes away from the blood-stained weapon and back to Urumi.

Although he couldn't see her face over the guardrails of her hospital bed, he could tell she wore the same pained expression he did. With that thought in mind, he pulls his face reluctantly from the window, leaving bloody hand prints against the glass and leaves the hospital.

By this time, it was already nightfall and the streetlights hadn't yet kicked on, so it was unusually dark.

On the way out of the building, Naruto bumps into someone. Not feeling particularly friendly at the moment, he pushes right past the small-framed figure and ignores it... Well, until it spoke.

"Have you seen my sister anywhere?" the figure asks timidly.

Naruto stops and the streetlamps flicker on. The yellowish, fluorescent light blinds him momentarily. He slowly turns to face the figure, squinting his eyes to try and see where this familiar voice was coming from. His vision quickly clears up and he realizes it was Kaori, Urumi's younger sister. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she looked tired and frightened.

"What are you doing out here so late, Kaori?" questions the blonde ninja as the young girl sniffles and rubs her eyes with her shirt sleeves. She opens her mouth to speak, but her words were muted by her constant sobbing. Naruto stares for a moment, completely unsure of what to do. He sighs, takes the girl's hand in his, and leads her back to the apartment complex.

During the walk home, the boy explains to the girl that Urumi was put into the hospital earlier that day and it'd be awhile before she would be released. He finishes by insisting Kaori stay with him until then.

When they arrive, Naruto unlocks his door and opens it. He makes a movement to head inside, but is stopped when Kaori pulls on his pant leg. "Can I go get my stuff from next door?" she asks quietly as the blonde kneels beside her. "Sure thing. I'll keep the door unlocked for you, 'kay?" he answers with a forced smile. Kaori nods and hurriedly races to the apartment next door.

Naruto takes this chance to change into his pajamas before she returns. The boy lies in his bed afterwards with his window wide open. He stares blankly up at the ceiling when the young girl bounds into his bed alongside him. He watches her from the corner of his eye as she buries herself into his body. His heart drops into his stomach when he realizes how much he longed for Urumi to be the one lying next to him.

The blonde ninja waits for the girl to nod off before scooting out of bed and crashing on the couch for the night. He grabs a blanket from the linen closet and settles in on the plush cushions of the couch. Naruto's eyes flutter shut and he tries to free his mind of all the day's past events, but as soon as he allows his mind to wander onto other things, it somehow reverts back to Urumi.

He groans and flips onto the knotted mess that was his stomach, burying his face in the darkness of the seat cushion. He lifts his head when he feels something drop onto his legs, pain jetting from the point of impact. He groans to try and mollify the numbness overcoming his lower body.

"Kaori, what are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be asleep..." he asks, slightly aggravated. Naruto pulls his legs out from under the girl and sits up right. Kaori twirls her hair between her fingertips and stares down at the floor while Naruto's eyes remain fixed on her.

"Urumi sings me a song to help me sleep at night..." she mutters under her breath. Her voice small and fragile against the flapping curtains in Naruto's window.

The boy inhales deeply and leans his head against the backrest of the couch. "How does this song go?" He releases his held breath as he spoke and turns his head towards the window. "I'm not really sure..." Kaori laments after a few moments of deep thought.

Naruto turns to face the girl beside him and perches his elbow on the backrest with his head in his hand. He flashes the girl a false, but comforting smile.

"How about I sing you a song of my own?" he offers, but Kaori's eyes were skeptical. She eventually gives in when Naruto leads her back to the bed and tucks her in. He sits on the edge of the bed and gazes out the window, sub-consciously searching through his repertoire for a song to sing to the young girl.

Finally, an idea comes to mind when the clouds slowly drift away from the window, revealing a familiar, full moon. The same moon he watched the night he heard that song awhile back...

Moonlight floods into the room as the boy begins to hum the melody of the lullaby. It was a beautiful tune with an intoxicating beat and rhythm. It would've been even better if he could remember the words... Within minutes, Kaori falls into a deep slumber.

Naruto slowly lifts himself off the bed and tiptoes over to the couch. He pulls his blanket up to his chest and lets his head become engulfed into the plush of the seat cushion. His eyelids gradually become heavy as he stares up at the ceiling again. This becomes the last thing he sees before the darkness.

...

He awakens the next morning with a greeting by the sun peering in through his window. As the sleepiness wears off, he feels something tickle his nose. Naruto swats at his face until it finally comes off. It was a note Kaori had left him before she went off to school. He peels the tape off his forehead and begins to read it.

_I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay the night. Maybe when I get out of school today I can treat you to ramen so I can properly show my appreciation. And if you're going to visit my sister today, tell her I said, 'happy birthday' for me, 'kay?_

Naruto jumps to his feet in disbelief. He had no idea that today was Urumi's birthday, but what had really caught him off-guard was the fact she was a whole month older than he was! He bolts to his closet to change, then to the bathroom to quickly brush his teeth before dashing to the hospital in a full sprint.

He swims his way through the crowded streets and swings around the corner where he collides into an unfamiliar man. Naruto topples over backwards onto the pavement.

"Where are you headed in such a rush, Squirt?" the man asks in a deep, and hearty voice. The blonde frowns at the man's offensive remark. He stands and brushes himself off before replying.

"My name's not Squirt! It's-" The man cuts him off with a booming wave of laughter.

"Naruto Uzumaki... I've heard about you," the man chuckles. Naruto stares up at the man with the long, white mane for a moment. He was about to ask how this strange man knew him, but was interrupted again by his crazed dancing. "I am Jiraiya! The Legendary Toad Sage!"

The blonde continues to stare blankly at the dancing man. Jiraiya freezes in a pose and the young gennin lets a smile ascend upon his traitorous lips. "I'm sorry, but I've never heard of you before..." The man's jaw drops and he narrows his eyes; causing his forehead to furrow.

"You're just as thick-headed as _**he**_ is..." the man scolds with a frown as Naruto plants his hands on his hips. "What do you mean by that?! Who's this _**he**_ you're talking about?!" the blonde ninja questions aggressively as Jiraiya cracks a smug grin.

"Why the Fourth Hokage of course!"

"You're comparing me to the Fourth?!"

"Well, the two of you do look alike. All the way down to that goofy grin of yours"

"Thanks... I guess..." Naruto mutters coldly under his breath. Jiraiya quickly waves him off. "Anyway, I need to get back to my _**research**_, but you're welcome to tag along if you'd like. You might even learn a thing or two." he offers with a crooked smile as Naruto shakes his head.

"No, I have to go to the hospital and visit a friend of mine..." he declines quietly.

The word "friend" left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Friend" felt so trite and meaningless. That shell of a word that used to bring so much joy was now a succinct of cynical contempt. He couldn't believe he had used that word so casually- Like what he had done yesterday was anything along the lines of _amiable_.

Jiraiya pats the boy forcefully on the shoulder, breaking him from his trance.

"She'll be alright, trust me..." he comforts with a somewhat stolid expression before turning to leave. Naruto quickly grabs him by the wrist and pulls him back. "_You_ know Urumi?!" he asks with a hint of anxiety hidden deep within his shaky voice. Jiraiya yanks his arm free from the boy's grasp. He draws his eyes away from the teary one's of the blonde's and sighs.

"Like I said before, I have some _**research**_ I _desperately_ need to attend to, so I'll see you around." he grunts firmly, turning away from Naruto. Jiraiya disappears through the wall of pedestrians behind him. The blonde watches him walk away until every hint of the man vanishes.

He wanted to follow Jiraiya to see what he was hiding from him, but he felt he didn't deserve to know anything more about Urumi's past. He was about to turn-tail and head back to his apartment, but he remembers Kaori's note.

_"I have to try atleast once... For her..."_

...

Naruto arrives at the reception desk of the hospital at exactly 12:30 p.m. Visiting hours began 45 minutes ago and his feet were as heavy as ever as he walks that same path up to Urumi's room. The nurse escorting him leaves the boy in front of the door and heads back to the front desk.

He stares through the uncovered window at the girl lying motionless in the hospital bed. His palms were sweating and kept sticking to the glass and his throat slowly began to tighten. It was becoming rather harder for him to breathe. His mind kept screaming at him.

He wasn't brave enough and his love wasn't strong enough to go anywhere near Urumi.

"Naruto, what are you doing out here? You know the door's unlocked, right?" Kakashi asks as he wipes his damp hands on his vest.

Naruto continues to stare through the window with deadpan eyes. Kakashi sighs and walks to the door of the kunoichi's room. The boy watches his sensei's reflection as he passes by him in the window. They lock eyes for a second in the reflective glass.

"How long have you been here?" Naruto blurts without removing his gaze from the girl. Kakashi was slow to response to the demanding question at first.

"...I've been here for the past hour. Why?"

"Did a man named Jiraiya come to see her today by any chance?" The blonde ninja finally turns to face his sensei, who was frozen at the door with his hand on the handle.

"How much did he tell you?" Kakashi murmurs in an unusually low voice.

"All he said was that she'd be okay but-"

Kakashi lifts his head from the door handle and quickly glances at the genin before returning it to the door. "Good. You should take that to heart, Naruto." the sensei interrupts sharply. "Uhn... I'm not worried about that..." Naruto clutches the sides of his pants and Kakashi twists the door handle, being none the wiser.

"Are you coming in or not?" he asks while standing in the doorway. Naruto flexes his fingers from the pain erupting in his hands. He hesitates to move towards the door. Kakashi watches the boy struggle for a moment. He didn't think what happened yesterday would've effected Naruto so much.

The blonde's eyes dart from the window then to his sensei. He tries to force his legs to move, but found them too heavy to lift.

"Dammit," drops from his quivering lips in despair.

"Dammit! Dammit! _**Dammit**_!!"

Kakashi's gaze shifts from the cursing boy to Urumi and eventually sits in one of the chairs by her bedside. He buries his nose deep within the pages of his hentai book and lets Naruto make this choice on his own. He couldn't force the genin to do something his hesitant heart wouldn't allow.

_"If he finally does come in, I'll tell him everything I know about her past..."_

--

-_"I don't want you to feel alone anymore! I know I didn't show it when I ran off, but I'll always be by your side no matter what..."_-

--

Naruto was having a flashback to the day Urumi found out about the demon living inside him. Her words seemed to really hit home... Especially after he ran off yesterday. She was able to forgive him so easily after that incident, but he couldn't do the same for her...

He didn't think it was possible for him to feel any lower than he already did...

--

-_"Will you forgive me? Please..."_ -

--

He listens to the sweet, melodic pleads of the voice in his head until his body becomes numb. He just couldn't bare it anymore. He was mentally and physically falling apart...

Naruto finally manages to shuffle his way slowly and silently to the doorway before his feet melt into the linoleum flooring. Kakashi's eyes peek over the pages of his book and cling to the boy in the doorway. The blonde's head was held low, with eyes that weren't really focused on anything.

_"I don't deserve to be here... I've failed you..."_

The silence between the two men had added tension into the thick air. The pressure began to bear down upon the blonde's shoulders, adding weight onto his already heavy heart. Kakashi sighs and his eyes lower to his book again. Neither were willing to make eye contact with the other. The sensei did it through a sense of politeness, but Naruto just didn't want Kakashi to see the fear in his eyes... Even though it was clearly shown through his actions.

He raises his head and his eyes travel to Urumi. He notices the restraints on her wrists and ankles.

-_Did she wake up earlier that day?_-

-_Did she try to escape?_-

-_But to where-- Orochimaru??_-

Naruto shakes these thoughts from his head and lets a long, shaky sigh pass through his dry, scratchy throat. He combs his fingers through his hair in a way to relieve his stress, but when he lifts his hands he feels something warm and wet drip into his upturned palms.

_-Tears? Was he crying?-_

His eyes dart over to Kakashi, who didn't seem to be paying attention to him at all. Naruto rubs the tears trailing down his face with his shirt sleeve. He lifts his head towards the ceiling to keep the tears forming in his eyes from falling. He shuts his eyes tightly and takes a deep breath. It was painful at first, like his chest was collapsing against itself.

The feeling slowly dissipates when he finally takes those first few steps into the hospital room.

"...Naruto,"

Kakashi's voice was soft and low. It was soothing to the boy's ears to hear something other than the continuous animosity he held towards himself mercilessly attacking his sub-conscious.

"Do you want to hear the truth about Urumi?"


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Naruto's mind mutes Kakashi's question as he blinks his eyes a number of times and rubs them to make sure he wasn't just imagining things. His lips curve into a small, grateful smile when he realizes his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. He was really in Urumi's hospital room...

A sense of triumph seems to wash over the boy as he begins to chuckle quietly to himself. Surprisingly, his voice came out hoarse and cracked, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him now was that he was there! He knew it wouldn't compensate for what he'd done, but it was a start.

Naruto makes his way over to Urumi's bed, but is abruptly stopped when the door slams shut behind him. He jumps and quickly spins around, only to be met by the dark, stoic eyes of Kakashi Hatake. The blonde had almost forgotten the sensei was still there.

"I really don't like to be ignored, Naruto..." Kakashi snorts as he shuts his book and slips it into the pouch hanging from his hip. Naruto's expression of shock softens into curiosity.

"You said something??" he asks hoarsely. Kakashi shakes his head and smiles behind his mask.

_"He seems to be back to norm-"_

The sensei's train of thought was broken by the soft murmurings of Naruto as he stands at Urumi's bedside. Naruto's lips tighten when he sees the seal on the kunoichi's neck. He reaches out to touch it, but Kakashi grabs his wrist.

"Is that going to keep Urumi from... _transforming_?" Naruto asks timidly.

Kakashi releases the boy and raises an eyebrow at his choice of words.

_-Transforming??-_

"It should, but then again," the sensei sighs, "it all depends on her..."

Naruto nods sullenly and leans forward against the guard-rail separating him from Urumi. He stares down at the girl lying before him with worry-filled eyes. "It all depends on her..." he muses quietly.

"Back to what I was trying to tell you before. Do you want to know the truth about the Makura clan?" Kakashi repeats.

The blonde ninja's forehead furrows with consideration.

_-What exactly was there to know?-_

"The truth? What the hell are you talking about??" Naruto asks gruffly.

Kakashi begins to tell the story of the Makura clan's birth. He informs the boy about all the laboratory tests and everything else he knew about the topic. When he finishes, Naruto's mind didn't know what to make of this new information. His lips part in an attempt to speak, but nothing comes out. He couldn't find the words he wanted to say and the ones he did find were caught in his throat.

"D-does she know about this?" he finally manages to whisper. Kakashi nods and buries his face in his hand. "Unfortunately..."

Naruto disregards Kakashi's reply and returns his attention to the kunoichi. He traces the leather restraint on her wrist with his fingertips and sighs. He felt so ugly and low... Was the depth of his betrayal this interminable??

He bangs his head against the steel of the guard-rail and leaves it there to soak in the pain.

_-Rock bottom... So this is what it's like??-_

"Why...?" he chokes out. His shoulders hitch slightly with each shaky breath.

"...You know I didn't tell you this to make you feel guilty, right?" Kakashi asks, staring down at the back of Naruto's head. The boy remains silent, but the hitching stops.

"It's alittle late for that, don't'cha think, Sensei?" Naruto snorts a chuckle and raises his head without ever once making eye contact with Kakashi.

"If you don't like it, then you can wash your hands of her for good without a second thought." Kakashi says coldly, turning to leave the room. Naruto waits for the door to close again before observing Urumi.

Her chest rises and falls to the beat of the machines connected to her. He sweeps her silky, auburn hair out of her face and lets his hand slide down her cheek. She was unusually warm despite the chilly air sputtering from the vents above their heads.

He leans over the guard-rails and presses his lips against her forehead gently. He takes in her scent before pulling away. The faint fragrance of vanilla lingered on her soft skin... Just like always...

"Happy Birthday, Urumi..."

--

"Jiraiya, can I have a word with you or are you too busy staring at naked women in the locker room?" Kakashi snickers mockingly.

The Toad Sage quickly pulls away from the women's locker room door and faces the jonin. His face darkens in embarrassment.

"What are you talking about? I'm doing _really_ important _**research**_ here, Hatake!" Jiraiya asks slightly aggravated. Kakashi pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs in exasperation. "Listen, can we find some other place to talk before-"

The locker room door opens and a petite, brunette steps out. Her eyes widen in horror to find Jiraiya standing in the doorway. She screams bloody-murder and begins beating the man with her purse.

"You dirty pervert!!" she exclaims, kicking Jiraiya in the shin before storming off.

The man lies on the pavement holding his bruising shin with a bloody nose and possibly some internal damage.

"For a young thing, she sure was strong..." he whimpers as Kakashi smiles in amusement.

"Do you need some help?" he asks, holding out his hand to the man. Jiraiya shakes his head and groans. "No, I just need to lay here for awhile," he coughs haggardly, "I think I swallowed a tooth..."

--

After Naruto left the hospital, he takes a walk around the village to sort through his thoughts.

--

_-"If you don't like it, then you can wash your hands of her for good without a second thought."-_

--

Naruto sighs, remembering Kakashi's last words. He couldn't just abandon her like that. Especially not after everything that's happened recently... So, what was he going to do??

--

"You went to go see her today, didn't you?" asks Kakashi stiffly after the two men had taken refuge by the woods.

I had to see if the rumors about her were true..." Jiraiya sputters with a swollen cheek and black eye. Kakashi inhales deeply and combs back his hair with his hand.

"Did you have the restraints put on her?"

"No, Urumi woke up shortly after I arrived. She tried to runaway, so they had to strap her down and sedate her."

"Runaway??" Kakashi muses quietly to himself. Jiraiya nods, clutching the icepack in his hand.

"When she awoke, she was taken over by the cursemark. Her eyes were glazed over and all she said was, 'help me,'" he informs the jonin, who frowns at the response he was given.

"What are you trying to say, Jiraiya?" Kakashi scolds gruffly. Jiraiya lowers the icepack from his cheek and pushes himself off the tree trunk he was leaning on. "Why don't you figure it out, Kid?" he sighs and tosses the icepack to the squad 7 sensei.

Kakashi catches the icepack and contiues to grimace. "Do you understand the severity of this situation?? If you have information, then tell me!"

Jiraiya turns his back to Kakashi and begins to head into town. "Be patient, Kakashi. You'll get your information soon enough."

--

After school, Kaori runs over to Naruto's apartment and knocks on the door briskly. She waits for any sign of life on the other side of the solid, wood door. It doesn't open.

She sighs and squats by the door. Her face twisted into a grimace. "He can't still be at the hospital, can he?"

Kaori closes her eyes and buries her face into knees with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs and waits for Naruto.

--

"What's eatin' ya, Blondie?" asks the man behind the counter of the Ichiraku ramen shop. Naruto sighs and pushes the lukewarm bowl of ramen in front of him away. He wasn't at all as hungry as he thought he once was. His stomach was tied in a splice he felt could never be undone.

The man's look of concern grows into a look of shock as the blonde ninja hops off his stool and walks off.

He heads back to his apartment to take a nap, thinking that it'd help him sift through all his thoughts. He stops several feet from the door when he spots Kaori perched at his doorstep.

Naruto narrows his eyes and approaches the young girl cautiously. "Why are you sitting out here, Kaori?"

She fidgets and lifts her head slowly. Her face flushes red with anger and her eyes pierce his in the most unmerciful manner. Kaori shakes a tight fist in his face and raises to her feet. "You moron! Didn't you read my note this morning?!" she snaps in outrage. Naruto stares abstractedly at the young girl, reflecting on what he remembered in her letter.

"I'm sorry, Kaori. I'm just don't have an appetite today..." he finally says after a still moment of silence. Kaori sighs and stamps a hand on her hip.

"You miss her, don't you?" she asks smugly. Naruto's eyes widen to the size of grapefruits and he blushes a million shades of red. "I don't know what you're talking about! Whatever gave you that idea?!" he blubbers, flailing his arms around wildly. Kaori snaps her head to the side and smirks. "I'm small, but I'm not stupid..."

"You may be small, but you have awhole lot of attitude..." the blonde utters under his breath. He stands and Kaori pouts. "What's that suppose to mean?!" she squeaks in a prattling tone. Naruto rolls his eyes and unlocks the door to his apartment.

"Listen, I'll give you my spare key. We can't have you sitting outside again while you're staying with me or your sister'll get mad at me, 'kay?" he announces, quickly changing the subject. Kaori smiles mischievously and takes the key from his hand. Naruto opens his mouth to protest, but she cuts him off.

"Are you sure this is for me? I'm sure you'd rather want Urumi to have this..."

The blonde's jaw snaps shut and his face tints pink. The young girl giggles and skips inside his apartment. He follows in behind her with a fixed frown upon his lips. The blonde ninja sighs and flops idly onto the couch.

-_I can't possibly tell her_...-

Naruto laces his hands behind his head and stares blankly up at the ceiling.

"Yo, Mister!" Kaori exclaims from across the room. The genin turns his head to the side and catches the girl's sparkling eyes. He winces slightly from the sight, but quickly regains his composure.

_-She's just like her...-_

"How long are you going to keep calling me that?" he asks, flipping onto his stomach. She shrugs and trots over to the couch. Kneeling on the floor, she pokes the boy's forehead. "Pay attention. I have something very important regarding my sister that I desperately need to talk with you about."

Naruto sits up and rubs the red spot on his forehead. "Such big words from such a little girl..." he snickers under his breath. The younger Makura sister glares daggers at the boy and climbs into the spot beside him.

"Aug! You're so immature!" she groans exasperatedly. Naruto chuckles and pats Kaori on the shoulder.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" The sparkle in the girl's eyes seem to dim as she hangs her head.

"My sister," her voice was soft and shaky, "How is she doing?"

"She's... doing alright..."

"Don't sugarcoat it! I can handle the truth!" Kaori scolds stridently.

Naruto lowers his eyes to the trembling hands of the girl's. Her fingertips burrow into her legs as she tries desperately to abate her tears.

His expression hardens and his eyes become indifferent.

"This is something you'll just have to find out on your own..." The stolid words fall from his lips as cold as ice. Not even waiting for a response, he stands and walks over to his bed where he lies on his side and stares out the window. Kaori gazes tentatively at the back of his head, still caught in a daze by the sudden burgeoning of hostility from the blonde.

She slides off the couch and heads for the door without a word. She hits the streets with no distinct destination in mind. The sun begins to set on the village and the darkness slowly engulfs Konohagkure. Streetlamps flickers to life and the stars emerge from the darkening sky.

--

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over, Sweetie. You're always welcome to come tomorrow though." says the nurse at the front desk of the hospital to Kaori when she arrives. The young girl sighs and leans forward against the desk.

"Can you atleast tell me what kind of condition she's in? I really need to know."

The nurse taps her pen against her chin before she replies in a soft whisper, "I'm really not suppose to be doing this but," the nurse leans forward and cups a hand up to her mouth, "I heard that she tried to runaway earlier today and had to be sedated..."

"So does this mean that she's strong enough to come home soon??" the girl tries her best to conceal the anxiety in her voice, but found her attempt unsuccessful. The nurse shakes her head. "The doctors are going to have to run a few more tests to see, so it might take alittle longer."

Kaori nods sullenly and steps away from the front desk. "Thank you for your help Ma'am," she whimpers and rushes towards the double doors on the opposite wall.

She sits outside the building on the front steps with her head in her trembling hands. Her tears trickle down her cheeks, her chest tightens, and her shoulders hitch. Kaori wipes her face with her shirt sleeve and rises to her feet. Her legs feel numb under her weight and her knees buckle as she walks through town on a path she hadn't been on for years.

--

Naruto awakens the next morning to the sound of the door slamming shut. He immediately sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The blonde reopens them to see Kaori glaring right back at him.

"Aren't you suppose to be at school?" he asks surprised. She rolls her eyes and disregards his question.

"We're going to the hospital... Now!" she insists, clamping her small hand around the boy's wrist and pulling him up from the bed. He looks at his clock and shakes his head. "Visiting hours don't start for another hour, Kaori." Naruto informs her groggily. "Then we'll wait at the hospital!" she snaps angrily, fed up with his excuses.

Naruto eyes the girl carefully. Noticing the fact she was still wearing the clothes she had on the day before. "Don't you want to get cleaned up first? Where have you been anyway?" he questions, narrowing his eyes. Kaori releases his wrist and turns her back to him. She was slow to respond to his question.

"I... I went to my clan's shrine for the first time in five years..." she whispers shyly. Naruto sighs uncertainly and pats the girl on the shoulder. "Why don't you get cleaned up? Afterwards, we can go for a walk. I have to tell you something..."

Kaori nods and hurries next door to change. Naruto takes this chance to do the same and waits for the younger Makura outside.

"Okay, I'm ready..." she says, a hint of enervation in her voice. Naruto takes her hand and they walk to Ichiraku's together. He tells the young girl all he knew about her clan's history on the way there.

When he finishes, they finally arrive at the ramen shop. Kaori's face was pale and her eyes seem to be glazed over and abstract.

"So, was I a test subject in those experiments too?" she asks statically. She realized that her question was a peripheral issue, but she really didn't care. She just had to get an answer.

The blonde pushes the noodles at the bottom of his bowl around the his wooden chopsticks, puzzling over her question.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't know, Kaori..." he answers, remorseful that he couldn't acknowledge the girl's anxious words with a suitable answer. They sit in a long, icy silence for a moment until she pushes her bowl to the side and hops down from the stool she was perched upon.

"You shouldn't apologize for things you have no control over. It's a really bad habit..." she informs, forcing a smile onto her rosy lips. Naruto drops his chopsticks and turns in his seat with his mouth agape and his eyes wide.

"Kaori," She looks up at him to be greeted with a benevolent grin, "let's go... Visiting hours are getting ready to start."

--

"Wow, everyone is coming to see her today..." Sakura notes, watching Naruto and Kaori enter the hospital's front doors. She rises from her seat in the waiting room and greets them.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" the blonde ninja asks surprised. The kunoichi plants a hand on her hip and shifts her weight onto her left leg. "I just thought that I'd come in and check up on Urumi, that's all."

"Hey, who's the prep?" banters Kaori. Sakura growls and shoots the girl a dirty look as Kaori smirks.

"This is Sakura, she's part of Squad 7 along with your sister and me."

The pink-haired kunoichi's eyes widen. "You're Urumi's little sister, huh? Well, you two are just alike,"

-Stuck up and pompous-

"Care to repeat that last part, Pinkie??" the younger Makura threatens narrowing her dark eyes at the older kunoichi. They stand there glaring at one another until the door opens again.

"So you losers are here too?"

The group turns around to see Sasuke's stoic eyes staring back in bewilderment. Kaori and Sakura rush over to greet him excitedly. To much of Sakura's displeasure, Kaori gets to the Uchiha first.

"Hey, Sasuke. You remember me?" she asks sweetly. The younger Uchiha raises an eyebrow. "And who are you suppose to be?" he retorts. Sakura snickers, and to everyone's amazement, Kaori flips her a quick birdie before returning her attention back to Sasuke.

"I'm Kaori, Urumi's younger sister. You came over to our apartment looking for her, don't you remember?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "That never happened."

Before Kaori could say anything else, Sakura bumps her out of the way with a quick, but fluid movement of the hip. "Hi, Sasuke! It's great seeing you here!"

"It's a hospital, Sakura. Get real..." he remarks coldly, glancing over at the clock. Visiting hours started 10 minutes ago. It's not like he was in a hurry to see her or anything. It was never like they were close friends or anything...

"So what brings you here, Sasuke?" questions Naruto skeptically, crossing his arms over his chest. The Uchiha scowls and pushes past the blonde without a word. Naruto, Sakura, and Kaori follow the dark-haired gennin to the front desk. The nurse on the other side smiles brightly, recognizing Kaori huddled in the group in front of her.

"So you came back, huh?" the nurse grins, scooting forward in her seat. The gennin of Squad 7 exchange looks of confusion.

"Yeah, and I brought company too!" she giggles. Sakura rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. She couldn't believe this woman was actually falling for Kaori's little innocent act.

"Is Urumi's condition improving at all??" asks Naruto, leaning over the top of the desktop. The woman leans forward as well, noticing the anxiety in his voice. "It's best if you go see for yourself, Kiddie. You know the way, don't you?"

The blonde ninja freezes, attempting to figure out the hidden message in the nurse's response. The younger Makura sister tugs on his shirtsleeve. "Come on! We need you to show us the way!"

Naruto takes one more look at the nurse, who was now looking over the paperwork on her desk.

He turns to the rest of the group and they head down to Urumi's room together. Naruto leads the way with Kaori clinging to his side. She wanted to make sure she was the first to see her sister.

Sakura, being the fangirl that she is, tries her best to flirt with Sasuke on the walk there, but he wasn't buying it. This disappoints her, provoking a laugh from Kaori.

"You little twerp!" Sakura growls under her breath. The young girl sticks out her tongue and blows a raspberry before quickly turning her attention to the hallway expanding in front of her.

"Do you have to be so childish, Sakura. The girl's 10 years old..." Sasuke retorts with a sigh. Sakura's cheeks tint a slight pink and she mouths a few threats to Kaori before turning back to her fantasy lover.

"You're right, Sasuke..." she chuckles, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.

Naruto stops infront of an open door at the end of the hallway. "Well, we're here..." he informs them. Kaori immediately rushes in and stands at Urumi's bedside.

"She looks so peaceful lying there like that. It's definitely a major improvement..." comments Sakura after the group settles into the room. Kaori shoots a death glare at the pink-haired kunoichi and quickly returns her attention back to her sister. Naruto stands beside her, his face twisting into a grimace.

Sasuke stands at the far side of the room, watching the bedridden kunoichi with angry eyes. This power that he so desperately longed for, was it truly worth this?

"If you continue to make remarks like that about my sister, I can assure you that you won't like the consequences..." Kaori sneers, gripping Urumi's hand through the guardrails. Sakura snorts a chuckle and smirks. "Whatever..." she counters cockily, confident that the little girl didn't have the heart to go toe to toe with her. Just to be safe, she takes a few steps back anyway.

Sasuke pushes himself off the wall and slips out of the room silently. He couldn't bare to stay in that place for another second. He was ashamed to say it, but he was jealous of Urumi. He was jealous of the power she'd obtained. He wanted to be as strong-- no stronger than she could ever be.

It'd be the only way to reach his goal...

"Kaori, so how are you holding up?" asks Naruto quietly.

"I'm fine..." she lies, stroking the back of Urumi's hand with her thumb. The truth was, it was taking all of her being to keep from crying at that very moment. She knew her sister's condition had to be pretty severe to be admitted into the hospital, but she didn't think it would be this bad.

Sakura sighs and leans against the guardrails at the foot of the hospital bed. "Do you think she'll be released anytime soon?"

Kaori recoils her hand and exits the room, slamming the door behind her. Naruto and Sakura glance at each other, then out the window looking out into the hallway to see Kaori heading down the hall and back to the front of the building.

"I have to go." Naruto announces, before sprinting after the young girl.

He finally catches up with her at the front steps of the hospital. He grabs her wrist and spins her around to face him. Kaori's eyes were red and her cheeks stained with tears.

"I just want to go home," she sniffles, rubbing her eyes with her sleeves. Naruto nods and walks the girl back to his apartment. He unlocks the door and the girl shakes her head. "I think it's best if I tough it out on my own for awhile... I'm enough of a burden as it is."

"Kaori, are you sure?" he asks, taken aback by the girl's sudden change of heart.

"I'm positive. Thanks for everything... Naruto..."


	12. Chapter 12

_**Chapter 12**_

After her sleepless night, Kaori reluctantly awakens the next morning to go to school. She couldn't concentrate though. Her mind focuses on distant days-- days that she spent with her sister, Urumi. How she missed her...

Kaori gets in trouble several times during the day for "spacing out." So much so, that she's asked to stay after class, but she had no intention on staying. After the last bell sounds, signifying the end of the school day, the young girl coasts through the mob of her peers crowding the doorway and runs away.

She didn't have much time left, but she was determined to make the most of it...

--

Meanwhile, Naruto, and the remaining members of Squad 7 meet up with their sensei at the entrance of the woods. They were all summoned there that morning by one of Kakashi's ninja dogs. Apparently this meeting was too important for mere notes like last time.

Naruto had to be dragged there by the dog because he refused to go. He had other plans and frankly didn't care to go to the meeting in the first place. He rubs the part of his hand in between his thumb and his wrist where Kakashi's ninja dog bit him with a pout on his peach-colored face.

"I called you three together to discuss the Chunin exams," Kakashi begins, his expression more stern than usual. Sakura's eyes widen, remembering seeing ninja from other villages entering Konoha on her way to the meeting.

"Right, the exams start tomorrow, right?" she states as the sensei nods slowly.

"Because of Orochimaru's sudden encounter with us earlier this week, the Hokage isn't allowing our entry in the exams." he says and lowers his gaze to Naruto, who seemed to be taking the news alot better than expected. His downcast eyes glaze over in deep thought and his jaw clamps tightly shut.

"So what are we going to do instead?" asks Sakura, slightly relieved to know she wouldn't have to face off against those Sand ninja she ran into that morning. The one that really got under her skin was the one with the gourd on his back. Something in his eyes just made a chill run down her spine.

What was his name again??

Sabaku no Gaara...

A sharp wave of hearty laughter cuts through Sakura's thoughts like a knife. She looks up to see the grinning face of Jiraiya the Toad Sage. She raises her eyebrow and plants her fists on her hips. Naruto glares at the white-haired sannin with disdain in his blue eyes.

"What are you doing here??" questions the blonde ninja angrily. Jiraiya flinches slightly at the chilly response. He figured it had to do something with Urumi. It was obvious to him that Naruto had feelings for the girl...

"Well, isn't that a warm welcome...? I didn't think you'd hold a grudge for this long, Naruto..." he remarks, rubbing the back of his neck. Naruto glares again and crosses his arms.

"What," Sakura interjects, "you know this guy??"

"Yeah, he's one of the legendary sannin-- Jiraiya." the blonde ninja snorts, burying his chin into his chest. The white-haired sannin smiles boastfully. Naruto didn't think the man's smile could get any bigger, but was proven wrong when Jiraiya's eyes met his. The blonde rolls his eyes and turns away.

"That's right! I'm here to tell you that _I'll_ be training _you_ from now on, Naruto!"

Naruto and Kakashi stare at Jiraiya with awestruck eyes. Neither of the two could believe what they were hearing.

"What?!"

"You heard right gentlemen! From this point on, I am Naruto's sensei!"

--

"Karin, I have one more patient to check on before I go on break, so wait for me!" announces the nurse that usually checks up on Urumi.

Her and her friend head up the lone hallway up to the Makura's room. Karin unties her flour stained apron and slings it over her shoulder. Flour diffuses into the air, creating a white cloud behind them.

"Alright, Nao, but hurry up! I have to get back to the bakery soon or my boss'll kill me!" Karin says to her friend. Nao coughs and fans the white smoke from her face.

Nao nods and power walks down the hall to Urumi's room. She opens the door and peers inside. She screams and begins to panic. Karin jumps from the shrill cry and rushes to her friend's side.

"What's wrong?!" she asks in concern. Nao whimpers silently, she bites her bottom lip. Nao refused to say anything. Karin grabs her friend by the shoulders and shakes her wildly. "What happened, Nao??"

"T-the girl," she stammers and motions to the empty hospital bed, "The girl-- she's gone!!"

--

"You can't be serious?! Why do I have to train with you??" complains Naruto, not in the least excited about the new arrangements. Jiraiya's expression becomes stern and serious.

"If you want to keep Urumi out of the hands of Orochimaru, you'll need all the training you can get..." he answers stiffly. The boy lowers his head, contemplating his next move.

Which was a rarity when it came Naruto.

He finally steps forward with a determined flame burning in his eyes. "If it's to help Urumi, then I'll train with you!"

Kakashi sighs and glances over at the remaining gennin at his side. When he last spoke with Jiraiya, he didn't think that the sannin would do something as drastic as this.

"I guess I'll train Sasuke for the time being, then when Urumi's strong enough, I'll train her as well."

Sakura stomps her foot firmly against the ground and pouts. "What about me??" she whines, feeling left out and useless. Jiraiya taps his chin with his finger and looks over the girl. Taking alittle too long to examine her.

"Pervy Sage..." Naruto utters under his breath. Jiraiya chooses to ignore the hushed remark from the blonde, but tokens him with a stern glare.

"Well, I'm not too sure if you'll be all that interested in my _**research**_, but there's someone I know that might be able to help you..."

"Really?? Who??" the pink-haired kunoichi gasps with curious eyes.

Jiraiya chuckles and pats the girl on the head. She clenches her jaw and swaps his hand away. "You'll see..."

--

The hospital blew up into an uproar when word got out of Urumi's disappearance. Anbu Black Ops receive orders to scour the entire town for the older Makura. Staff members worried that Urumi might have awakened under the control of the cursemark again, so extra precautions were being made.

Kaori enters the hospital alittle later than she cared to be. She went to her clan's shrine on the way to see her sister and lost track of time.

She approaches the front desk, noticing the panic in the faculty's faces as they rush by her. The nurse on the other side of the desk spots the young girl in the chaos and motions for her. Kaori jogs over, her forehead furrowing at the sullen expression of the nurse.

"What's going on?" she asks worriedly. The woman sighs heavily.

"I'm pretty sure you're here to see Urumi, correct?"

"What's going on??" Kaori repeats, her fists tightening with every racing beat of her heart.

"Well, I'm not too sure how to put this, but--"

"Did something happen to my sister?! Is she alright?!" the girl's voice rises over the increasing noise of the staff around her.

"She's gone... One of our nurses went in to check up on her awhile ago, but she wasn't in her room. I'm sorry..." the nurse finally answers, her head hanging low. Kaori immediately turns tail and runs over to Urumi's hospital room.

_She couldn't have! There's no way--_

The thoughts of disbelief finally slow to a jerky stop when Kaori reaches the doorway. The bed was indeed empty and left unmade. Strangely enough, her katana was still there too...

"Well, she couldn't have gone too far..."

She slowly walks over to the weapon and wraps her small hand around the handle, pulling the blade out of it's sheath. Since the katana was a family heirloom, she's able to handle the weapon without it rebelling against her. Her eyes widen at the sight of dried blood coating the steel blade.

She immediately drops it and steps back against the bed-- leaning against the guardrails. She holds her face in her hands as tears stream down her face.

"Kaori... Is that you?"

--

"It's a _her_? Really? What's her name?" asks Sakura gleefully as she walks alongside Naruto and Jiraiya after leaving Kakashi and Sasuke in the woods.

The white-haired sannin chuckles at the girl's enthusiasm. "Tsunade... She also one of the three legendary sannin."

"You keeping saying that there's _three_ of you guy's. Who's the third?" remarks Naruto quizzically. Jiraiya's face pinches slightly.

"...Orochimaru..." he hisses.

"You've got to be kidding! _Him_-- A _sannin_??" scoffs Sakura. Jiraiya nods his head. The two Squad 7 gennin stare up at him in disbelief.

Naruto, ready for a change of subject, laces his hands behind his head and turns his gaze to the street extending infront of him. "So who's this Tsunade lady, anyway?"

"Well, she's this crabby, old hag that loves to gamble." Jiraiya describes to Sakura's dismay.

"Old hag?!" she whines childishly.

"Yeah, but she's very strong and skilled in medical jutsu, so you'll learn alot from her, Pinkie." the older man adds. Sakura growls and flips her flowing, hot pink hair over her slender shoulder in a huff. Just because her hair was pink didn't give everyone the right to call her "Pinkie."

"Where are we going to find her?" asks Naruto. Jiraiya grins and continues to look forward. "If she received my summoning this morning, she'll come to us..."

--

"So Sasuke, how about we start your training now?" suggests Kakashi, entering the training grounds with the young Uchiha trailing behind him silently. He wasn't too happy to hear that he'd be working along side Urumi during his training with Kakashi. The last thing he wanted was for her to dangle her strength in his face; even if it was intentional.

Sasuke snorts, the anger and jealousy within him grows hotter.

_"From here on, we're rivals, Makura..."_

--

Kaori slowly uncovers her face with her hands. Her vision blurring from the wave of tears still forming in her eyes. She rubs them away to get a better look at the blob of gray perched on the windowsill.

When she gazes up again, she's met by the deadpan eyes of her sister, Urumi. The dull, gray hospital attire she dressed in hanging off her frail body, the excess clothing billowing in the breeze entering through the open window. Urumi's skin appeared pasty in color and brittle to the touch.

The young girl stares in awe, afraid that she'd be carried off by the wind. Urumi hops down from the window, collapsing onto the floor with a dull thud. Her legs were still weak and she couldn't push herself up off the ground. Kaori notices her struggling and rushes to her aid.

"U-Urumi, what are you doing up?? You're suppose to be resting!" the younger Makura scolds, helping Urumi into a chair at her bedside.

She scans the room with her eyes, wincing at the sight of her blood-stained sword laying on the ground in front of her. The memories flood back to mind as they did when she first awoke ealier that day. She leans her head against the back of the chair and stares blankly up at the speckled ceiling, trying to erase those seemingly indelible thoughts.

Kaori pouts and entwines her fingers with her sister's. She gasps at how cold Urumi felt, despite the fact she was sitting out in the sun for who knows how long. Her usual scent of vanilla was obscurred by the smell of the outdoor air, so she had to have up for awhile now.

The older Makura squeezes Kaori's hand, and closes her eyes, holding back the tears burning fervently in her eyes.

Suddenly, she leans forward and pulls her shocked sister into an embrace. Kaori wraps her arms around her and buries her cheek into her sister's shoulder. The younger girl quietly sobs into the gray, cotton sleeve as Urumi strokes her dark hair.

"Kaori, I'm sorry... Please forgive me..." she says hoarsely. Her voice was scratchy and cracked from trying so hard not to cry.

Kaori looks up and rubs her eyes with a quick sweep of her hand. She shakes her head, spreading the tears still falling. "What are you apologizing for? None of this is your fault! Naruto told me everything!"

"...Naruto..." Urumi muses quietly to herself. She hangs her head and grimaces. She left to go see him earlier, but he wasn't at home.

"He told me everything about our clan's history. It was something you had no control over." the young girl advices as Urumi rises to her feet. She leans over the armrest of the chair to keep herself from falling over. "I realize that, Kaori, but that's not what I was talking about. I was apologizing for putting you through this..."

"But you're better now! That's all that matters!" the younger Makura assures her. Urumi opens her mouth to protest, if anything she was as far away from "better" as humanly possible, but she keeps her lips shut tight and leans over to pick up her katana. "Come help me clean this off."

Kaori stares fearfully at the blood-covered blade for a moment and reluctantly follows her sister to the bathroom down the hall. The walk there was silent, but Urumi thought it was for the best. She had no intentions on explaining to her younger sister why her blade was coated in blood. She had no reason to worry Kaori with her mistakes.

Kaori pushes open the bathroom door and Urumi steps through, she shivers slightly from how cold the linoleum floors were against her bare feet. The older sister walks over to the pedestal sink and turns the faucet on. Water spews out and rains down on the steel blade. She watches the blood dissolve and flow down the drain. Kaori observes the sullen expression on her sister's face warily.

"Who's blood is that, Urumi?" she asks timidly. Urumi shuts off the water and lifts her sword into the air. She watches the remaining blood trickle down the blade and onto the handle. It felt cold against her fingertips. Urumi frowns and pulls out a handful of paper towels from the dispenser beside the space where the mirror was suppose to be.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me here."

"But-"

"Not a word, Kaori!" Urumi booms, throwing away the wad of paper towels in her hand before running out the bathroom. The younger sister follows close behind her. Urumi goes back into her room to retrieve her sheath and jumps out the open window. Kaori watches her sister disappear into the town below, and when she was out of sight, closes the window.

"Have you seen an Urumi Makura around here?" asks a staff member, standing in the doorway. Kaori turns to face him and shakes her head.

"No, I haven't, Sir...".

"Um, well, you shouldn't be in here anyway. Come with me."

She obediently follows the man down the steps silently. The nurse at the front desk watches the tearful Kaori leave the hospital.

She wanders around the town, hoping to atleast catch a passing glance of her sister along the way. She comes across the desolate alley that was home to the Makura shrine. She stands at the bend of the street and gazes at the concealed doorway. She inhales shakily and saunters inside.

By the door, at the far corner of the small room, pictures sit on the boarded floor. She narrows her eyes at them, trying to remember if they were there the last time she came. To her recollection, they weren't...

She slowly makes her way over and kneels on the floor in front of them. One was of Urumi and their parents. It was printed in black and white, and faded and wrinkled. Her eyes fall upon her mother holding Urumi in her slender arms, and her lips curl into a small smile. Urumi was the spitting image of their mother, but her smile quickly fades at the sight of her father. He was a stranger, to say the least. She barely knew anything about him, besides what tidbits she received from her sister.

Kaori lowers the picture frame, and picks up the second one. This one was in color and seemed to have survived better than the other. The edges of the picture were slightly frayed but it wasn't as worn as the first she looked at. The image included Urumi, their mother, and the younger version of herself. This was taken a few months before their mother became ill. She didn't even seem to have aged, despite the several years that separated the two captured moments in her hands. She stands and places the photos on the lower shelf of the alter before heading out again.

"There's only one place left that she could have gone..."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Lady Tsunade! Lady Tsunade!" shouts Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, as she runs through the streets of a nearby town. Her small pig named Ton-Ton leads the way to the sannin by following her scent. It stops in front of a gambling hall and nudges at the door. Shizune picks up Ton-Ton and pushes open the front door. She scans the room for any sign of Tsunade.

"Dammit! I lost again!" the sannin exclaims, pounding on the slot machine angrily. Shizune sighs and approaches the blonde haired woman, who looks up from the battered machine and glares at Shizune. Her assistant holds out her fist and drops a scroll into older woman's lap.

"It's a summon. You're wanted at the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Lady Tsunade." she informs haggardly. Tsunade raises a skepical eyebrow. "For what?" she questions sternly. "Um, I'm not too sure, malady. The scroll didn't say." stammers Shizune nervously. Tsunade rises from her seat at the slot machine and exits the gambling hall, clenching the scroll in her fist.

"Come, Shizune." she instructs, standing in the doorway of the building. Her assistant flinches slightly and scurries after the sannin. "Um, Lady Tsunade, are you going to the village?" she asks quietly, trying hard to shallow the lump in the back of her throat. The sannin suddenly freezes, causing Shizune to bump into her. The woman was silent for a moment as she stares down the road ahead of her while Shizune stumbles backwards, trying desperately to regain her balance as not to fall and squish the tiny, pink animal in her arms.

"Let's head back to the hotel. I need more money." the older woman says softly. She begins walking again, her long, blonde hair flowing behind her in low-set pigtails. Shizune watches her saunter away with a look of surprise on her face. Ton-Ton hops down from her arms and runs to catch up with the sannin. The dark haired woman sighs heavily and follows them hastily.

--

When they finally arrive at their hotel room, Tsunade orders Shizune to look through her bags for her coin purse as she opens the scroll. She sips on her cup of tea as she examines it's content.

It was indeed a summon.

She was startled to see it was from Jiraiya. She slams the cup down, causing the tea to splatter all over the table as she reads the last of the scroll. "A favor," she snorts, "what in the hell does he want?"

"Lady Tsunade, I found your coin purse, but it's empty." Shizune reports, earning a glare from the sannin. Tsunade hurls the half full cup of tea at her assistant, but Shizune dodges it. The cup shatters into pieces as it hits the wall behind her. She marvels the hole in the wall where the cup had impacted it and gasps.

Sometimes Tsunade's strength was a real hazard...

"Who told you to look in it, Idiot??" Tsunade scolds aggressively, her lips caught in a tight frown.

"I'm sorry, malady, but did you really have to do that?" whimpers Shizune frightfully. Tsunade narrows her eyes and rises from the table in a huff. Her forehead furrows, causing the marking above the bridge of her nose to shift.

"Have that patched up before I return. I'm going for a walk." the sannin instructs, tucking the scroll under her arm and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her. To Shizune's surprise, the wooden door falls off it's hinges.

"Great, something else for me to fix..." Shizune groans, holding her head in her hands.

--

"Hey, Pervy Sage--"

"Naruto! Don't call me that!!" Jiraiya scolds, winking at two random women walking by. They turn up their noses in disgust as Naruto sighs and shakes his head. This happens more often than you'd think. Every time he attempts to _flirt_with a woman, it always ends badly. Naruto's just amazed that Jiraiya hasn't noticed how less of a_ play-ah _he really is compared to what he thinks.

"I can't wait to meet my new sensei!" Sakura interjects gleefully. Jiraiya freezes and narrows his eyes at the horizon. An ominous feeling washes over him while watching several Anbu Black Ops in the area scanning over the town. This goes unnoticed by the two gennin accompanying him.

"Sakura, Naruto, I think it's time for you to go home." he says gruffly. The pink-haired kunoichi pouts. "Why? What's wrong?"

"There's no time for questions, just do as I told you." Jiraiya snaps coldly. Naruto glances back at the sannin once more before turning to walk Sakura home. He wasn't to sure what exactly was going on, but he couldn't help but feel alittle on edge.

"What do you think came over the old man?" asks Sakura worriedly. The blonde ninja shrugs idly.

"I dunno, but I'm not stickin' around to find out. That guy's too pervy for he's own good..." he answers with a slight, but forced chuckle. Sakura notices this and places a gentle hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. He flinches and lowers his gaze to the ground.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" she asks in concern. The blonde ninja takes a moment to register the question.

"I'm... fine, Sakura. It was nothing..." he sighs, deciding not to trouble his teammate with his problems. Sakura bites her lip, debating whether to push the subject or not. She eventually backs off remembering how stubborn the Uzumaki boy is.

"Anyway, when do you think we'll start our training?" she asks, twisting her fingers together behind her back. Naruto waits for Sakura to turn the bend in the street before following after her.

"Eh, it has to be sometime soon, but I'm not particularly thrilled to have to spend all my free-time with that pervert..." he scoffs, rubbing the back of his neck as Sakura giggles.

She stops at the base of her porch steps, gripping the rails tightly. "Well, thanks for walking me home. I really appreciate it, Naruto."

The blonde ninja nods and waves before turning around to head back to his apartment complex. Suddenly, Sakura calls out his name. Naruto stops hesitantly and make a half turn in the kunoichi's direction.

"Yeah, Sakura?"

The pink-haired girl lowers her gaze to her hand tracing the rot iron guardrails leading up to her front door. She coughs into her free hand to clear her throat and her gaze shifts to meet the eyes of the blonde.

"I-I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted at the hospital. I know how you feel about Urumi and--"

Naruto frowns and narrows his eyes to the kunoichi, causing her to cut her apology short. He knew that there was no way for her to possibly know how he felt towards Urumi when he hardly knew himself.

Sakura takes a couple of steps down from the porch, her head cocked at an angle. Her lips part, threatening to speak again, but Naruto tilts his head back and laughs.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize," His expression hardens again. "Everything been pretty stressful lately, so I can't really blame you for acting like that." With that, he walks back in the direction he came, disappearing around the corner.

--

When he turns the corner into the apartment complex, Naruto decides to go check up on Kaori. He hadn't heard from her since the night she chose to live on her own. Quite frankly, he was worried about the girl. He knocks on the door of the remaining members of the Makura clan and waits for a response.

When he doesn't receive an answer, he raises his fist to try again, but something wraps itself around his abdomen tightly. His body stiffens and his heart races at the sight of the pale colored limbs holding him.

He immediately turns around to be met by her steely, cool eyes. They were wet with tears, and bloodshot. They stand in a tense silence until Naruto clears his throat.

"What are you doing here?" he asks shyly. His voice just above a whisper. She closes her eyes, blinking away the fresh tears in her doll-like eyes.

"I live here, remember?" she whimpers, her voice revealing her mental recoil from the boy's question. It was as if he was expecting someone else...

"Sorry, I was just..." Naruto's words trail off and blow away with the wind. She stands silently waiting for him to continue his thought.It was obvious he wasn't though. He turns his head towards the alleyway further down from where they stood with a tight jaw. It was almost like some sort of force drawing his eyes there...

She sighs, her breath catching in her throat. She gags slightly, her quiet sobbing becoming apparent to the blonde. "Naruto..." she says softly, almost apologetically, unable to speak anything more.

They stay this way for awhile. The silence slowly tearing them up on the inside. A sharp surge of guilt washes over her as she makes her way to the door. Naruto reluctantly clears from in front of the door with a grimace.

"I guess I'm going to go. There's someone I have to go see..." he laments backing away slowly. Each step making his chest tighten. She reaches for the handle of the door and lets her hand rest there for a moment. She credits him with a side glance with eyes colder than ice.

He freezes at the coarse expression on the girl's face. She lets her tears stream steadily down her colorless cheeks and slips the key into the slot and opens the door. She steps forward and stands in the middle of the doorway. "Good luck finding her..."

With that, Kaori slams the door shut behind her, leaving a bewildered Naruto in her wake. "Finding her?" he muses under his breath. The blonde jogs over to the door and draws his hand back to knock on the wooden surface. On the other side, he could hear the younger Makura sobbing. He withdraws his tightly curled fist and swiftly heads out into town again as he ignores the strange urge he had to check the alleyway for that weird sensation he felt earlier.

--

Hidden in the shadows at the other end of the corridor, the eldest Makura ricochets off the wall gracefully to get to the rooftop of the apartment complex.

Despite her fatigue from her days in the hospital, her footwork was just as fast as ever- maybe even faster- but her remarkable recovery was the last thing on her mind as she watches the Uzumaki boy vanish through the busy streets of Konoha. The look of pain on his face lingers in her mind and begins eating away at her. The burning sensation in the pit of her stomach causes her eyes to water. She wipes them dry quickly with the back of her hand.

On the inside of her dour outer shell, she fights a battle with her conscience to follow him. She grunts in regard to her inability to make a decision on the pressing matter. Her time was running out-- She could feel them drawing nearer. Urumi rises from her seat on the roof, sensing the presence of the Anbu Black Ops in the area.

Unfortunately, they spot her moments later, but Urumi's stolid expression hadn't changed at all. She continues to stare out onto the horizon in the direction Naruto had left, not too long ago. Urumi steps up onto the ledge in front of her and lifts her head towards the sky. She feels her body begin to push forward against the wind and opens her eyes. She slips off the ledge of the roof and begins to fall, but before she could do anything to stop herself, something grabs her.

Urumi's pulled up on the rooftop and is greeted with a tight embrace. Which left her motionless in her current state of shock. The auburn-haired kunoichi stays in this embrace with her faceless savior for a long moment before returning the gesture, realizing he wasn't so faceless after all...

They stay this way, while their minds cloud in a pleasant daze. Even in her tranquil state of mind, the fact that she'd be sent back to the hospital for testing the second the Black Ops get their hands on her kept creeping into her thoughts.

But the one thing keeping her from her stealthy escape was _Him_. His gentle breathing in her ear and the rhythmic beating of his heart were soothing and alot harder to part with than she had expected. She sighs and buries her cheek into his shoulder, finally giving in.

He smiles and his grip on the girl tightens. He rests his chin on her shoulder and inhales the faint scent of vanilla still lingering on her skin. He finally releases her after a few more moments and gazes into her eyes. They were bright and glimmered brilliantly under the cloudless, blue sky. She conceals her anguish with a weak smile, knowing that her time would be up shortly and the Anbu Black Ops would soon catch up with her.

"So you found me..." Urumi says quietly. Naruto cocks his head to the side and smiles warmly.

"The word on the street is that you ran away, so I sent out shadow clones to search for you. Pretty clever, huh?" he chuckles, his voice cracks and he turns away from her. She sighs and walks past him, without ever once looking in his direction. She knew if she stayed any longer, it'd be even harder for her to leave. He frowns and grabs her wrist. She winces and stares down at the village beneath them. Urumi wanted her departure to be quick and painless, but this was anything but...

"Why?" she asks shakily. The Makura stares down at the blonde's peach colored hand around her thin wrist. "I should be asking you the same question. You're suppose to be at the hospital." Naruto counters recoiling his hand. Urumi keeps her head lowered.

"I-I had to," she begins, "I had to see you-- everyone again to... Apologizing for being such a burden."

"Why would you have to apologize for that?"

Urumi finally brings herself to look the boy in the eyes. Her heart skips, almost against her will, at the intensity in them. "What do you mean?"

"You aren't a burden. We all care about you-- I care about you and there's nothing that can change that, Urumi." Naruto swallows hard at the girl's silence, trying to decode every shallow breath escaping from her perfect, pink lips. He watches her quivering lips stumble over unspoken words. She closes her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm her racing heart.

"Naruto, I--" Urumi's voice trails off and her eyes glaze over. She stumbles around for a moment before finally collapsing. Naruto didn't even have a chance to catch her when Anbu Black Ops arrive on the scene to take her away. One of the masked ninja hoist the kunoichi onto their back and begins to take off when the blonde gennin steps in front of him, blocking the path.

"What did you do to her??" he questions gruffly, his fists tightening at his sides. Urumi warily lifts her head, a dazed look on her face. She pulls at the tranquilizer dart stuck to the side of her neck until it comes loose. Her grip weakened by the tranquilizer, the dart slips from her hand and bounces along the smooth surface of the rooftop shingles. The small container finally halts at Naruto's feet.

The blonde kneels down to pick it up, the dart dancing among his fingertips as he rolls it around in his hand. He looks up to token the Anbu responsible with a glare, only to realize he was alone. The Anbu Black Ops had left, and there was no trace of their existence here except for the dart clenched tightly in his fist.

Urumi was gone, and of course Naruto was going to go after her...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

She sits by the entrance of the hotel with empty pockets and a mind full of questions. She just couldn't understand why Jiraiya would summon her so unexpectedly, and to Konohagkure of all places!

Tsunade groans and rereads the scroll resting in her lap tentatively. Her fingertips dance impatiently along the underside of the fine rice paper of the scroll. She sighs and rolls the scroll shut, stuffing it deep within her coat pocket. She knew if she continued to let her mind dwell on this any longer, she'd be missing her chance with Lady Luck.

The blonde woman stands from her seat and heads deeper into town. She eventually ends up at a bar. Tsunade pushes open the front door and scans the dank, darkness inside. The air was thick with cigarette smoke, and as she cautiously enters the tavern, the pungent odor of alcohol becomes stronger. She earns many side glances as she makes her way through the maze of pool tables and chairs.

She wrinkles her nose and tries to ignore the stench as she approaches the haggard-looking bartender behind the counter. He lowers the beveled glass in his rough hands onto the splintered counter top and acknowledges the sannin with a low grunt.

"What will it be Lil' lady?" he smirks, inspecting the woman with lust in his dark eyes. Tsunade glowers intensely at the man and examines the selection of drinks displayed on the ragged shelves behind him.

"I'll have a glass of wine..." she says, vaguely pointing at a cluster of wine bottles across from her. The bartender snatches up a bottle at random and pours it into the glass he was just recently cleaning. The man slides the glass over to Tsunade, who turns up her nose at it. "What's the problem?" he scoffs as she slides the glass back over to him.

"I want ice."

The bartender raises an eyebrow before fulfilling the woman's order. He passes the glass back once more and clears his throat, combing his pudgy fingers through his thinning hair. It had been awhile since there was a woman in this old place, so he was going to make the most of it.

"I haven't seen ya around here before. Yer a tourist or somethin' ?" he asks, slinging his stained rag over his broad shoulder. Tsunade sips at her beverage. She wasn't in the mood for small talk, but really-- how bad would it be to loosen up every once and awhile?? She chuckles at the thought and parts the rim of her glass from her pink colored lips.

"Something like that... I'm just traveling for the moment."

The bartender leans forward against his muscular, hairy arm. "Ya headed somewhere in particular?"

Tsunade tightens her jaw and glares mercilessly at the man. She grips her glass harder, creating cracks along it's sides. That was the one thing she couldn't figure out. Jiraiya was an old friend of hers, but more than likely, the old man's gotten himself into some kind of trouble and needed her help to bail him out... Like always...

She shakes her head and slams the glass on the counter.

There was no way she was going to let herself get involved in anymore of Jiraiya's foolishness.

"How much do I owe you for the drink?" she growls angrily.

The man sighs in defeat, knowing his chances of "scoring" tonight were ruined now. He picks up the bottle of wine he'd selected and turns it over to reveal the price to Tsunade. Her jaw drops at the number of zeroes behind the one on the tag of a bottle of flat tasting wine. She bites her lip knowing full well that she didn't have the money to cover her tab, and she had no intentions on signing anymore IOU's today. Despite her current situation, a smirk slowly emerges on the sannin's face.

"I have a proposition for you..."

--

As soon as Urumi's limp body passes through the hospital's front doors, she is immediately swarmed by staff members and taken to one of the many rooms on the opposite side of the building.

They wheel her into an empty examination chamber with the doctors following in cautiously after her. The two doctors quickly, but carefully draw blood from the unconscious kunoichi before running the other necessary tests. A nurse enters and takes the capsule of Urumi's blood and hurries out the room. After the testing was completed, the doctors leave to check on the sample they received from the girl.

The Makura is kept in isolation under Anbu supervision for her remaining days in the hospital. Extreme measures were being taken to make sure there wouldn't be anymore mishaps regarding Urumi.

She awakens several hours later in a blindingly white room. The yellowish fluorescent lighting overhead emits a dull glow. Urumi squints up at the paneled ceilings and examines the many light fixtures in the room-- the closest thing to _natural_ light she's going to get for the time being...

She sighs and allows her eyes shift to the bare, textured walls. There were two windows in the room. The first was on the wall facing her bed. It was large and completely tinted black. The second was a small rectangular one on the deadbolt door sealing her inside her temporary prison. She sits up in her bed, leaning her back against the cool steel of the headboard. Urumi stares at the tinted window on the other side of the room and frowns at what she saw-- the cursemark...

Rage begins to build within her body as she glares back at her double in the mirror. Is this what her life will be for the rest of her days?? A test subject?? A puppet for someone else's despicable devices?

Urumi throws the blanket covering her body off the bed and slowly makes her way over to the tinted glass. Her steps were slow and heavy as her eyes glow with blood lust and anger.

When she approaches the window, she extends her hands to the cool glass. It was smooth and slick under her fingertips. Urumi presses her body against the wall and blinks away the jolt of pain shooting from her neck. Soon, the cursemark would take her over again and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

In truth, she didn't want to delay it any longer... Or was this all just the curse talking?? It was feeding off her anger, her will cracking with each passing moment.

Urumi growls and begins punching at the window. It vibrates violently with each blow, not yet willing to give in. Her eyes glow a deeper, richer shade of red as her punches increase in power. The thick, tinted glass slowly begins to crack under the force of the blows.

"Are you happy now?? Is this what you wanted, Orochimaru??" she wales, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her shoulders hitch and her knees weaken. She slides down the wall and collapses from the sudden shock of pain from the cursemark. It was becoming much harder to keep the curse under control. Urumi cries harder and a blood curdling scream escapes her throat that rings out throughout the entire building. The curse emerges upon her skin as the door swings open... The last thing she sees before sedation.

--

"You want to what??" gasps the bartender, waiting for the unflinching smirk on Tsunade's face to disintegrate into hysterical laughter. He was certain this had to be some kind of trick. There was no way in hell someone like her could do that! Tsunade chuckles and takes a swig out of her glass of wine, the look of befuddlement on the man before her was pretty amusing.

"If I can beat everyone in this bar at an arm wrestling match, you have to toss my tab and pay me, in cash, the price of your entire selection of wine. If I lose, I'll pay double that price!" she repeats.

He sighs and strokes the stubble on his chin with his hand. He grins, confident that she'd be taken out as soon as the first match began, and holds out his hand. "Ya got yerself a deal."

Tsunade turns in her swivel stool to face the rest of the men in the bar. "Listen up! I challenge each and every one of your fat asses to an arm wrestling contest!"

The men grow silent for a moment, then erupt into a roar of laughter. Tsunade frowns and clenches her jaw. One of the drunken men at the pool table approaches her, his breath hot from the massive amount of alcohol he'd consumed.

"Why don'tcha comer en gimme ah kiss instead?" he slurs lustfully, puckering his lips at her. Tsunade rolls her eyes at the fish-faced man and drives her foot into his stomach, her heel digging into his flesh. He flies across the room and crashes into the pool table hidden in the shadows he emerged from. The bar shimmers down to a low rumble of whispers. She smirks once more and glances over her shoulder at the bartender. His face pale with disbelief.

"Alright, who's first?"

--

After fifteen minutes of bone crushing, muscle mangling, tendon tearing torture, almost all the men in the bar had suffered a humiliating defeat, except for one. He was last on the list of victims on Tsunade's list. He was also the last hope keeping the bartender from announcing bankruptcy.

The sannin approaches the booth in the back where her last victim resigned. As she gets closer, see notices the glint of light reflecting off the man's bald head under the flickering fluorescent lighting. His entire body a giant mass of bulging muscle.

She snorts and rolls her eyes, unimpressed. For the biggest and brawniest man in this place, he wasn't a threat at all. In Tsunade's line of work, she's crossed paths with men twice his size. A low, brooding grunt escapes his throat as Tsunade pulls up a chair and rests her elbow on the wooden table.

The man's beady eyes narrow at the woman before he lifts his arm up on the table as well. His arms were thick and veiny like his tree trunk-thick neck. His hand engulfs Tsunade's like a hungry shark. She raises her gaze to the pug-like features of the giant.

"I hope yer ready to loose this arm, Lil Missy!" he booms with a grin. Tsunade disregards the man's remark and looks over her shoulder at the bartender.

"Count us off!" she commands turning back to the giant before her. The bartender sighs and does as he's told. He didn't want to be carried out in a stretcher like all the others.

"Ready," Tsunade and the giant lean forward, "set," His grip tightens around her hand, "g--"

Before the bartender could even finish, Tsunade picks up the giant, one handed, and tosses him over the booth to the table next to them, breaking it in half. The bartender stares wide eyed and dumbfounded as the woman claps her hands together with a smirk waiting on her lips. The next stretcher rolls in to take the giant away. He barely fit on it so a second was brought in. She watches him roll out the door before approaching the counter.

"A deal's a deal. Where's my cash?" she chuckles, holding her hand out with the palm facing up. The bartender quickly scurries over to the other end of the counter to fetch a metal box. He opens it up and empties all the money out.

Tsunade counts out her enormous wad of cash on her way out and stuffs it in her pocket. She freezes at the doorway, patting down every pocket on her person. The scroll was gone...

She hurries back over to the booth in the back and sifts through the debry. She finds it under the shattered remains of the table. She opens it and reads the content once more, rethinking her decision not to go back to Konohagkure. Tsunade sighs and drops the scroll into her pocket before heading back to the hotel.

--

"Third times the charm, right, Ton-Ton?" Shizune says with a smile as she admires all the repairs she had done in Tsunade's absence.

The hole in the wall was patched up quickly with a tarp and a few strips of silver duct tape and she had just finished putting up the door... Again...

She closes up the tool box she burrowed from one of the janitors and throws herself on the softness of the bed. Usually, hotel beds were stiff and uncomfortable, but it felt like heaven to Shizune's aching joints.

Ton-Ton nudges at the gray tarp on the wall. "Oink, oink! OOIINNKK!!"

Shizune rolls over to her side to face her pink companion. She yawns and rubs her eyes sleepily. "Well, at least the hole is patched up. Why do you have to be such a perfectionist?" The dark-haired woman's eyes flutter shut, allowing herself some much-needed rest.

Suddenly, the door swings open and slams shut again. Shizune shoots up in surprise, her body relaxes, only slightly, to see it was Tsunade.

The sannin steps away from the door and walks over to the other side of the room to gather her belongings.

"Shizune, get your stuff." Tsunade orders, looking up from her suitcase with a frown plastered on her face. Shizune stands and hurries over to her mentor hesitantly. "W-why?? Where are we going??"

"Stop asking such trivial questions! You know damn well where we're going!" the sannin barks, handing Shizune her bag. The dark-haired woman opens her mouth to respond, but Tsunade brushes past her briskly. Shizune sighs and follows the sannin around the room, watching her frantically search for some random extra toothbrush she swore she packed...

Shizune was on the edge of collapsing, but she wasn't stupid. Something was definitely bothering Tsunade, and Shizune had a hunch that it had to do with the fact that the sannin was still of the fence about going to the Hidden Leaf Village.

"Lady Tsunade, I don't know what you're talking about..." she says timidly as the sannin gives up on her search and grabs her things. She swiftly walks over to the door, motioning Ton-Ton to follow. She stops and catches Shizune's eyes in a sidelong glance over her shoulder.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to wait and see..." Tsunade leaves the room to wait in the lobby of the hotel. Shizune grabs her stuff and runs out the room, the door falling off it's hinges for the fifth time today.

"Dammit," she curses under her breath as she heads down to the lobby.

--

When Shizune finally arrives, they head to the front desk to check out. The elderly lady behind the desk hands Tsunade an extra bill. The sannin stares at it awe-struck. The amount being asked was more expensive than the wine she ordered at the bar!

"What's this for??" she asks gruffly, flailing the piece of paper in the woman's face.

"It's the bill to cover the damages to the room you were in." the woman replies, pushing Tsunade's hand away from her face.

"All this for a hole in the wall and a faulty door??" Tsunade exclaims angrily, slamming her fist against the counter. Shizune's face flushes bright red. She could sense all the eyes within the area burning into the back of her head.

"Lady Tsunade, can we just pay the bill and get out of here. You're kinda making a scene..." the dark-haired woman pleads.

Tsunade grunts and digs in her pocket for the wad of money, which she had to use more than half for the bills. Shizune stares at the money in her mentor's hands, amazed as to where she obtained that kind of cash.

Of course, Tsunade was too pissed to answer any of Shizune's questions and just storms out of the hotel. Shizune and Ton-Ton follow close behind the short-fused blonde, taking caution with every step because when Tsunade was in a bad mood, there was no limit to her fury...


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Dust settles in a cavern on the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village after a rock shattering explosion. The second of the day...

Sasuke stands in the mist of all this eyeing his handiwork. His breath ragged and his body weak from the exertion of chakra used for this new jutsu. Kakashi stands nearby, his arms crossed over his chest, nodding his head in approval of Sasuke's slow, but steady improvement. If he kept this up, he'd soon be able to master this jutsu-- a Hatake specialty-- to say the least.

"It looks like you're good for two bursts..." he says, taking a few steps closer to better examine the deep indentations in the rock's surface. The young Uchiha leans forward, gripping his knees to keep from falling over. He narrows his eyes and glowers at the rock formation in front of him, disappointment taking over his thoughts.

Although his training with Kakashi had just begun, he knew it'd take awhile before he felt any changes, but he didn't feel any different whatsoever. He thought he'd atleast feel alittle stronger...

If he couldn't hone his abilities and prove himself against Urumi, he knew for certain he wouldn't be able to hold a candle to Itachi.

The anger in his belly ignites at the thought of his older brother and he growls. Sasuke holds out his hand, palm up, and focuses all of his chakra to that one spot. As soon as Kakashi realizes that Sasuke was attempting a third Chidori, the sensei punches him squarely in the jaw, knocking the Uchiha off his feet. He skids across the ground, covering about four feet before coming to a stop.

"What the hell do you think you're doing??" grunts the dark-haired gennin, sweeping the back of his hand over his chin to wipe the blood away.

"I'd have half a mind to ask you the same question! You can't force a jutsu like that!" Kakashi scolds. He looks down at his hand to see Sasuke's blood on his knuckles. He flexes his fingers, somewhat regretting hitting the boy so hard. Sasuke curls his legs into his chest, crossing his arms over his knees. His eyes return to their dull calmness as he turns his gaze to the village in the horizon.

"What would happen if I did?" he asks quietly. Kakashi sighs and pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket, wiping his hand clean of the crimson blood. He allows his eyes wander as he tries to think of a way to phrase his response. He runs his fingers through his hair in defeat.

"You're chakra level would deplete to absolute zero," Kakashi looks down at the gennin, "and you'd die."

Sasuke remains silent for a moment at the sensei's blunt response before rising to his feet. He walks over the the edge of the cliff and watches the sky slowly darken from the array of clouds blocking the sun above them. He contemplates whether the goal he's been working so hard to reach was even within his grasp.

There was only one thing that came to mind-- power, absolute power-- and he knew exactly who he had to go to to get it...

Because of the heavy precautions taken by the hospital, Urumi wasn't allowed visitors until her release day. Jiraiya was the first to enter through the deadbolt door. An Anbu tails in behind him and stands by the door. The sannin doesn't react to his presence until he reaches Urumi's bedside.

"You really don't need to be in here. I can take care of myself." he says coldly, a stern expression on his dark face. The Anbu turns to Jiraiya, his face hidden by a mask.

"I'm sorry ,but-" Jiraiya tokens the Anbu with an intense glare. "Leave! Now!" he orders shrilly. The man jumps at the command and hesitantly exits the room, "Um, yes, Sir," he stammers, slipping through the doorway.

When the door shuts, Jiraiya fixes his eyes on Urumi, who sits looking down at her quivering hands. It was silent in the room until Jiraiya sits on the edge of the bed, causing the mattress to squeak. The sound echoes throughout the room, but is cut short by Jiraiya's unusually cool voice.

"What the hell do you think you were doing??" he questions, narrowing his eyes at the girl. She doesn't respond verbally to Jiraiya's outburst, instead her hands curl into tight fists. The sannin repeats his question, but louder this time.

"Orochimaru..." Urumi hisses under her breath. Jiraiya's eyes widen at the sound of his teammate's name.

"What made you think you could go after him alone??" he scolds as Urumi lifts her head. The look of animosity on her face seems to melt away as the door reopens, revealing Naruto standing in the doorway. The room grows silent once again as the mixed emotions swirling within the young gennin become apparent in their expressions.

"You went to see Orochimaru?" Naruto whispers, a hint of vexation hidden in his voice. His fists tighten at his sides as the deadbolt door slowly creaks shut. Urumi hesitates to answer, faltering over her words. She lowers her gaze to her teammate's feet, finding it too difficult to look him in the eye any longer.

"I was captured before I could leave the village... Remember?" Urumi corrects him, shifting her gaze once more to her cracked reflection in the tinted window. Naruto approaches her bedside, leaning forward against his arms resting on the bed. His hands clutch the grayish blue blanket covering the mattress tightly.

"Why?? Why would you do that?? Why would you lie to me like that??" he asks through a tight jaw. Urumi glances down at Naruto's hands, unwilling to make contact with the blonde still.

"I had to-- I have to kill him... It's the only way..." she answers sullenly as Jiraiya shoots up from his seated position.

"You didn't have to do shit besides stay in the hospital and rest like you were suppose to! You could've gotten yourself killed!" he booms aggressively as Urumi finally lifts her head, her eyes wide in shock. Naruto sighs and glances back over his shoulder at the fuming sannin. He turns back to Urumi and kneels on the white tiled floor.

"Urumi," he begins, enclosing his hand around the kunoichi's, "promise me that you won't do that again."

The girl allows her gaze to meet Naruto's again. She narrows her eyes at him and tightens her jaw. "Naruto, this has nothing to do with you! This is only between me and--" the boy's grip on Urumi's hand tightens suddenly.

"Just promise me, Urumi!!" he commands sternly. The kunoichi flinches and lowers her head. Naruto recoils his hand and rises to his feet at the intensity of his outburst. The room settles in silence once more.

Jiraiya breaths in deeply and flares his nostrils, recovering from his rage. He scratches his head and walks towards the door. "Urumi, get your stuff so we can leave. I'm going back to the lobby to check you out."

Jiraiya opens the door and exchanges a few words with the Anbu he scared off earlier. The ninja hands the sannin a set of keys, who tosses them to Naruto. The boy stares down in bewilderment at the ring of keys in his hands.

"Pervy Sage, what are these for??" he asks as he looks up only to be met with a closed door. Naruto sighs and turns toward Urumi, who was fidgeting under the blanket. As she does, a muffled rattling sound vibrates through the air.

Curious, Naruto pulls the blanket from the bed. He gasps in astonishment at the short, steel chain around Urumi's right ankle which was connected to the bed. His eyes hesitantly rise to Urumi's face, but only the top of her head was visible to him. His lips part in an attempt to speak, but his words seem to evaporate into the air, leaving them unheard.

Urumi buries her forehead into her left knee as deeply as humanly possible. The silence overflowing within the room was cold and becoming completely unbearable until Naruto wraps his fingertips around Urumi's ankle. She tilts her head to the side and catches his shimmering eyes. Naruto fiddles with the keys for a moment, trying to find the one to release her.

"It's the only silver one on the ring..." Urumi states quietly as Naruto wrinkles his nose at how nervous he was. He finds the right key and unlocks the chain. The heavy chain drops onto the mattress with a dull thump. "Right..." he chuckles lightly, watching Urumi draw her right leg into her chest.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that..." she sputters, finally lifting her head from her knees. "You don't have to apologize. I understand..." he says softly as he combs his fingers through Urumi's auburn hair. A tint of pink rises upon her pale cheeks as she gazes into his eyes. Her eyes lower to his lips, which curl into a grin as the blush on Urumi's face darkens.

"Naruto..." she gasps breathlessly as he closes his eyes. His grin grows larger, and he ruffles her hair with a chuckle.

"We'd better get going. Don't want Pervy Sage blowing another gasket." Naruto says, the grin upon his face fading. He lifts himself up off the bed and grabs the small bag of clothing wedged between the bed and the nightstand. He hoists the bag onto his back as the kunoichi watches him carefully, seeing through his happy facade. She could tell that deep down, he was scared. To be honest, she was too...

Naruto senses her eyes burning through him and tokens her with a sidelong glance. She blinks away her thoughts and leans forward for her katana, which was propped up against the nightstand. When she does, Naruto cautiously watches her. Urumi straps the sword onto her back and faces the blonde with a hurt expression.

"You're frightened, aren't you?" the kunoichi asks vapidly. Naruto lowers his head as he twists the plastic bag in his hands. Urumi keeps her gaze locked on the downcast eyes of the blonde, waiting for a response. He sighs and lifts his head, but jumps slightly at the fact that Urumi was standing right in front of him now. His face flushes red as he rubs the back of his neck with his free hand.

"Only of the things to come..." he answers stiffly, carefully examining Urumi's facial expression. It hadn't changed at all. Although she wouldn't admit it, the words that fell from his lips struck her like daggers, but of course Urumi wasn't going to tell him this.

"Can you hand me my shoes. They're in the bag." she asks suddenly, eager to change the subject. "Sure..." Naruto replies and digs into the bag, then hands the girl her shoes. She slides them on and heads for the door, letting her hand hover over the knob.

"You coming, or are you too scared?" she jokes, smirking over her shoulder at the blonde. Naruto forces himself to smile back at the girl before following her down the hallway to the lobby.

When they finally meet up with Jiraiya in the lobby of the hospital, he had already finished all the release forms and was now flirting with the nurse at the front desk. Naruto and Urumi sigh and shake their heads in unison at the sight.

"You know, if you'd like, I could put you in one of my books..." he purrs seductively as the nurse forces herself to smile and chuckles nervously.

"Pervy Sage, what the hell are you doing??" Naruto questions, breaking his glare to smile apologetically at the nurse. She sighs in relief and returns to her paperwork.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up! It took you long enough!" Jiraiya scolds loudly as he turns his back to the gennin. Naruto rolls his eyes and begins to pull him towards the door. "Can we just get out of here? People are starting to stare!" the blonde whispers angrily as Urumi brushes passed them.

"Don't worry, they aren't staring at you..." she murmurs coldly, pushing open the door and exiting the building. Naruto and Jiraiya glance at each other and hurriedly follows after her. Once outside, the group begins to walk around the village, deciding some fresh air would do them all some good.

"So, where are we headed anyway?" asks Naruto, breaking the silence. Jiraiya clears his throat and grins mischievously at the blonde. Naruto swallows the lump in his throat and prepares for the worst.

"You are going to walk Urumi home, while I set up everything up for your training today." he informs as a broad smile breaks out on the blonde's face.

"Awesome! I'm starting training today!" he cheers as he punches the air with his fists. Urumi glances up at Jiraiya, then at Naruto.

"Since when do you train with Jiraiya, Naruto?" she asks, speaking again for the first time since she left the hospital. Naruto immediately stops his cheering as he locks eyes with her. "Oh, not very long. This just happened while you were still in the hospital." the boy answers as Urumi chuckles lightly.

"I wonder what else I've missed..." she says, twisting her hair between her fingertips. Jiraiya pats her roughly on the shoulder and laughs heartily.

"You can ask Kakashi when you begin training with him and Sasuke tomorrow!" he chuckles with a crooked grin. Naruto's jaw drops in disbelief.

"What?? She just got out of the hospital! How can you expect her to begin training so soon??" he gasps, flailing his arms around wildly through the air. Urumi rests a hand on his shoulder and smiles warmly at the blushing boy.

"It's alright. I'll be fine..." she assures him as Jiraiya pats her on the shoulder again. "Exactly! That's the spirit!" he exclaims with a laugh. Urumi glares at him as she slaps his hand away.

"I thought you were leaving..." she reminds him angrily. The sannin's laughter abruptly stops. "Right. I almost forgot. Naruto, I'll meet you at the training grounds."

With that, Jiraiya disappears into the crowded streets of Konohagkure leaving Naruto and Urumi in blanket of silence once again. The blonde rubs the back of his neck, trying to think of something to say. Urumi tucks the loose strands of hair in her face behind her ear before turning to face Naruto.

"So, how is Kaori doing?" she asks quietly, her eyes wandering as she spoke. A heavy sigh falls from the boy's lips as he laces his fingers together behind his head. He pries his gaze away from the winding road in front of him and looks at Urumi.

"She really misses you, Urumi..." he laments, turning into the entrance way of the apartment complex. Naruto hands Urumi her belongings and begins to walk away.

"I hope we can still be friends... Even though... you know..." the kunoichi whimpers, tears slowly emerging in her eyes. Naruto stops in mid-step and glances briefly over his shoulder, forcing a smile to ascend upon his lips.

"Yeah, me too..." he agrees, turning to leave the apartment. Urumi watches him until he completely disappears from her sight. She sighs and digs inside the plastic bag in her hands, in search for her key. She uncovers it moments later and unlocks the door, only to be greeted by an empty house.

Closing the door behind her, she kicks off her shoes, drops her bag, and heads for her room. Urumi's stomach cries out to her, begging for food, but she ignores it. Food was the last thing on her mind...

Urumi awakens the next morning to an uproar in the kitchen. She blinks away the sleep in her eyes and yawns idly. The older Makura sits up in her bed and stretches before shuffling out of her room.

"Good morning, Sleepyhead! It's nice to see that you finally decided to wake from your slumber!" giggles a small voice from within the kitchen. Urumi's eyes widen as Kaori bounds into her arms, knocking her off her feet.

"Kaori--" Urumi coughs, desperate to regain the breath knocked out of her body.

"Urumi! Is it true! Did you really get released from the hospital yesterday??" Kaori interjects, her eyes lighting up in excitement as her sister nods her head. The younger sister shoots up to her feet as a large smile occupies her face.

"Yeah, but I start my training with Kakashi-sensei today, so I'm not going to be able to celebrate for long..." Urumi snorts as Kaori helps her to her feet. Her smile quickly fades. "Really, so soon??"

"Don't worry about it... Everything will be fine," Urumi reasons hesitantly, glancing into the kitchen to see ingredients for breakfast spread across the counter tops, "Sorry to ruin your plans like this..."

Kaori shrugs it off and tosses Urumi an apple. "It's alright. We can always go out to eat anyway. Hey, maybe we can invite Naruto too! You know he'd be happy to see you again!"

Urumi winces at the comment as she remembers the look in Naruto's eyes at the hospital. Her grip on the apple tightens, her nails digging into the shiny surface of the red fruit. Nonetheless, Urumi forces herself to smile-- if only for a second. "Yeah, I bet he would, but he's too busy with his training... I guess it'll just be the two of us..."

"Um, okay..., but Urumi," Kaori stammers as she wrings her hands together nervously. Her sister tilts her head to the side, waiting for her to continue. "Yeah, what is it?"

"You're going to come back... Right?" Kaori asks timidly, lowering her eyes to her feet. Urumi frowns, realizing how much her running away had hurt Kaori. She sighs and lays a hand on the younger girl's head.

"Of course, there's no place else I'd rather be..."

After changing clothes, Urumi rushes out of the apartment and launches into the air. She scans the village below, searching for any sign of Kakashi or Sasuke. Luckily, she spots them at the front gate of the Leaf Village on the verge of leaving. She descends from the air a few yards away and flash steps as fast as she could over to them.

"Kakashi-sensei! Sorry I'm late..." she apologizes, as the two men stare wide-eyed at her, their mouths gaped open in surprise. Kakashi adjusts his headband and clears his throat in an attempt to regain his composure.

"Urumi. It's so nice to see you again." he greets warmly, all the while amazed by the girl's agility. Obviously, the cursemark had enhanced every aspect of her physical being-- speed, strength, chakra, and all five of her senses.

Sasuke glowers coldly at Urumi in a reserved silence, unwilling to speak a single word to the kunoichi. Urumi ignores this apathetic gesture. She expected nothing less from the raven haired gennin. Her and Sasuke weren't the best of friends after all...

"So, what exactly has been going on since I left??" Urumi asks as she follows Kakashi and Sasuke to their usual training spot in the mountains.

"Nothing much. Mostly just the Chuunin Exams..." Kakashi summarizes briskly. Urumi's face twists into a sorrowful grimace, making a mental note of yet another thing she'd screwed up...

Sensing her grief, Kakashi turns back and flashes her a concealed smile. She realizes his attempt to comfort her and returns the gesture weakly.

"Don't worry about it. There's always next year." the sensei states as he catapults up a rock formation. Sasuke and Urumi follow quickly behind him, mirroring his every step so not to fall. During this entire time, Urumi could feel Sasuke's cold glare burning through her skin.

_"Could he be mad about the Chuunin exams by any chance??"  
_

Urumi was aware of Sasuke relationship with his older brother, Itachi. Hatred and revenge were practically all the raven haired gennin ran on. Maybe he saw the exams as a way to test his skills...

The kunoichi sighs and pushes the thoughts of Sasuke's bitterness away as the group finally arrive at their destination. Urumi gawks up at the large oak tree looming over the clearing at the top of the rock formation and the rest of the training equipment set up. She scratches her head and continues to scan the area, alittle overwhelmed by this all. "So, what now?" she chuckles lightly.

From the corner of her eye, she sees Sasuke take a seat under the tree. His gaze on her hadn't budged at all. Kakashi claps his hands together and releases a long, steady sigh.

"Urumi, do you understand how critical this situation is?" he asks, his tone even chillier than Sasuke's stare. Urumi nods sullenly, her face shrouded by the shadows. "Yes, I understand."

"Jiraiya and I haven't figured out what Orochimaru is planning on doing yet, so in the meantime, I'm going to have to make sure that you know how to control the curse."

Urumi winces and grips the markings on her neck-- rubbing it-- half wishing for it to rub away. She wanted nothing less than this whole ordeal with Orochimaru and his sick, twisted ways to just vanish. Everything was falling apart because of him, and if he wasn't stopped soon, Urumi knew that it wouldn't be long before she'd be left with no one...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Naruto enters the training grounds warily as he searches for his sensei, who was nowhere in sight. He sighs and sits under a shady tree, tossing the red and yellow water balloon clutched in his hand into the air. His head bobs up and down, following the balloon with his crystal blue eyes as he replays the conversation he had with Jiraiya the previous day in his mind.

--

_"If it took the Fourth that long to master this jutsu, what makes you think I'm going to in only three days??" Naruto retorted, a tone of disbelief apparent in his voice._

_"Quite your whining, Naruto! I didn't bring you here to hear that!" Jiraiya objurgated. He slapped the back of the blonde's head with a heavy palm. Naruto winced and rubbed his head while he glared at the older man._

_"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked through grinted teeth. The sannin unveiled his other hand, which was hidden behind his back, and shoved a water balloon into the boy's arms._

_"Here, this will help you with your training."_

_Naruto stared down at the balloon in awe, unsure of what to do with it. He raised his eyebrow at it as his mouth opened, shut, then reopened again._

_"What am I suppose to do with this??" he questioned aggressively with a scowl. Jiraiya patted the young gennin on the head and smirked._

_"Why don't you figure it out?"_

--

Of course after awhile of complaining, Jiraiya gave in and granted the blonde a hint. The sannin painted a symbol in the palm of the boy's right hand.

Even with that vital hint, Naruto didn't get very far in figuring it all out the other day. In fact, he was just as clueless today as he was yesterday.

The blonde sighs and leans his back into the rough bark of the tree, molding his body to the contours of the trunk. He allows his mind to wander for a moment, lost in thought, he doesn't notice Jiraiya approach from behind.

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing just sitting around? You have training to do, remember??" he exclaims, frightening the young boy out of his tranquil state of mind.

"I-I... Pervy Sage! What are you doing here?? I thought you said you were leaving the village today!" the blonde stammers quickly, tripping over his words, turning his entire response into incoherent nonsense. Jiraiya takes a moment to translate Naruto's ramblings to English before replying.

"I just thought I'd drop in and check on you first, but you still haven't answered my question, Naruto." he reminds the boy, a stern expression upon his face. Naruto exhales deeply and glances down at the balloon in his hand.

"I just don't understand what I'm suppose to do, Pervy Sage..." he admits finally, gripping the balloon tightly in frustration. Slowly, the water within the balloon begins to simmer. Jiraiya's stern expression melts away and is replaced with a grin, realizing that Naruto was still unaware of what he was actually doing.

"I think you do..." the sannin chuckles, lifting the boy's arm up from his side. Naruto looks down at the balloon slowly dancing in his palm and a bright smile illuminates his face.

"And you thought I wouldn't be able to master this jutsu! I guess this teaches you not to underestimate me-- Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" he cheers, laughing in triumph at his accomplishment.

Jiraiya rolls his eyes and backhands the blonde's forehead. Naruto stumbles backward and falls back into the tree. "I want you to break that balloon, but only with your chakra."

"Only with my chakra??" Naruto muses, sliding back into the lush, green grass.

"Anyway, I have to go. My _**research **_isn't going to get done on it's own," Jiraiya states, turning to leave, "But remember, I'll be back on the third day, so don't just sit on your ass the entire time."

With that, the sannin vanishes from Naruto's sight. The blonde groans and presses his back into the bark of the tree again. Things have become alot more complicated...

--

Jiraiya soon arrives at the Leaf Village's front gate with his pockets heavy with cash. The sannin wasn't having much luck with his _**research **_here in Konohagkure, so he thought a change of scenery was in order. A broad, pervy grin spreads across his olive-colored face as he marches forward with his chest out and chin held high.

"Tanzuka Town-- Here I come!!"

He spends the rest of that day walking, finally arriving at Tanzuka Town late that evening. By this time, all his favorite shops were on the verge of closing for the night. Disappointed, Jiraiya sets out to find a suitable hotel to stay in.

After checking into a nearby hotel, he leaves to find that all-hour bar he saw on his way to the hotel. He pushes open the doors excitedly and seats himself at the counter. The skinny, scruffy looking bartender on the other side glances at him with his dark eyes.

"What'll ya be havin'?" he asks gruffly, leaning forward on his bony arms. The man's sour breath was thick in Jiraiya's nostrils, causing him to grimace slightly. He coughs to try and diffuse the stench, but it doesn't help much.

"A bottle of your finest sake would be greatly appreciated!" Jiraiya boasts cockily, despite the burning sensation overpowering his nostrils. The bartender grins a toothy grin.

"Y-yes, Sir!" he chuckles, turning toward the shelves behind him. As he does, he winks at a couple of young women in a booth along the far wall. They smile and quickly saunter their way over to Jiraiya and seat themselves on either side of the sannin as he examines them both.

_-Gorgeous and busty-- Just the way I like 'em!-_

A lustful smirk eases onto the man's face, slamming his palm against the wooden counter of the bar. "Two rounds for these beautiful ladies!!"

"Oh, we couldn't possibly..." giggles the woman on Jiraiya's right, combing her slender fingers through her curly, violet hair.

"More for me than! HAHA!" Jiraiya exclaims, gulping down the three glasses of fermented rice placed in front of him. The woman sitting to his left grips his shoulder, gingerly squeezing it as she laughs. She tosses back her dark blue hair and smiles brightly.

"You're so funny, and not to mention incredibly attractive!" she compliments, greatly inflating Jiraiya's ego. The sannin chuckles heartily and snakes his arms around the waists of both women.

"You, whooo! Oh, Mist-ah Bartend-ah! My glasses are empt-eh!" Jiraiya prattles drunkenly as the man behind the counter happily pours more sake into all three glasses. The sannin unwillingly pries his arms away from the curvaceous bodies of the women and downs his drinks.

"You know what you need?" asks the violet haired woman, rubbing Jiraiya's shoulders and upper-back, "A nice massage."

Jiraiya arches his back and groans lightly. Obviously, enjoying the special attention he was receiving.

"Why, doesn't that sound lovely? Of course, I bet your name's would be ten-fold of that..."

"How rude of us! We've forgotten to introduce ourselves, Sister!" gasps the blue haired woman, covering her perched lips with a delicate hand. The violet haired woman leans forward against Jiraiya's back, her cool breath tickling his ear.

"My name's Sayuki, and that's my sister, Ryou." she whispers seductively, her lips brushing agianst his ear, ever so lightly, as she pulls away. Jiraiya's face darkens as his temperature rises and his heart beats insanely in his chest.

"Bartend-ah!! Just leave the bottle!!"

The man behind the counter slides the half consumed bottle of sake over to the sannin with grin, knowingly winking at the two women. They nod and watch the man beside them chug the remnants of the alcoholic beverage enclosed in his hand.

With all sense of sanity completely lost amongst the dregs of sake running through his system, Jiraiya begins singing random folk songs, tap dancing on the nerves of all the other people in the bar. All the while, Ryou and Sayuki exchange questioning looks with each other, then with the man behind the counter. He narrows his eyes at the women and makes a motion with his hands as a sign to keep going, then rubs his fingertips together.

Sayuki and Ryou sigh and return their attention to Jiraiya, who was still, unfortunately, singing... If you could even call it that. His speech was slurred to a point where you couldn't understand a word he was saying, and he was completely out of tune. To say the least, Jiraiya was drunk off his ass, but you couldn't tell him that...

"Are you drunk??" asks Ryou, even though she already knew the answer. She pokes the sannin, who was slouching over the counter top with the sake bottle still clenched in his hand. The bar was now empty and he'd run out of songs to murder. He laughs and sits up, leaning his body into Sayuki's idly.

"Naw! Of course not! And to prove it, how's 'bout we go back ta my place and ahhh-" Jiraiya passes out in mid-sentence, falling backwards out of his seat with a loud _thud_. Sayuki and Ryou both sigh in relief, glad that they didn't have to listen to anymore folk music.

"Finally! I thought he'd never shut up!" groans Sayuki, standing from her stool. Ryou pokes his motionless body with her foot.

"Are you sure this guy's got money? He seemed pretty damn stupid to me..." she asks, glancing back over her shoulder at the man behind the counter.

"Positive! Now, check his pockets!" he orders as Sayuki kneels down next to Jiraiya and searches his pockets, until she discovers his wallet full of money. She grins and pulls it out for her sister and the bartender to see. The man smirks and leans over the counter to snatch the wallet from the violet haired woman.

"See? I told you he had money!" the bartender cackles, stuffing the wallet in his own pocket. Ryou steps down from her stool, tiptoeing around Jiraiya's body lying on the ground.

"We should get out of here before he wakes up, Master Iori." The bartender scowls and emerges from behind the counter with a glass of cold water in his hand.

"And leave his dumb ass in here all night?! I thinks not!" he snaps, dumping the glass of water onto Jiraiya's face. The sannin groans and slowly staggers to his feet. His eyes bloodshot and he could barely stand on his own, much less walk.

"Hey, you got's to go! We're closin' up shop!" Master Iori announces, wrapping each of his arms around the women's waists. Jiraiya groans again and staggers out of the bar, drunkenly searching for his way back to his hotel.

After hours of banging on random doors, Jiraiya finally finds his hotel room. He shuffles over to the bed and flops on top of it, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

--

He awakens the next morning recking of alcohol, his mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton, and a massive headache. The light pouring into the room from the open window was blinding to the hungover sannin. He winces at the sun, mocking him from outside his window and rolls over onto his side. He continues to shift uncomfortably in the bed, due to the fact his clothes were damp for some unknown reason.

He sighs, the damp clothing pressing into his flesh as he tries to recall the events that took place last night. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember what happened after he had passed out. Jiraiya buries his face in the pale green sheets on his bed and drags his knuckles through the rough, braided carpet on the floor. He tucks his other hand under his pillow to prop his head up as the door creaks open.

The head of a young woman pokes through the opening, short, jet black hair framing her pale face. She wrinkles her nose at the thick smell of alcohol filling the room.

"Out partying?" she asks, smirking at the man lying on the bed. Jiraiya chuckles and shrugs nonchalantly.

"I guess you could say that, so may I ask what you're doing in here, Lil' Lady?"

The woman at the door gasps, a hand darting up to her red lips. "Oh, sorry. I'm Kouichi Akina, the housekeeper. I'm sorta new at this thing..." A pink tint rises upon her cheeks as she spoke. Jiraiya grins and sits up on the edge of the mattress.

"Kouichi, huh? Well, I don't think this house needs any keeping, but you can always stay here and keep me company." he remarks as Kouichi raises an eyebrow. Jiraiya winks seductively at her and she frowns, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Let me think about that-- No!!" Kouichi scolds before slamming the door shut. The sannin sighs in defeat and lies back down on the bed. Apparently, his flirting skills have gotten a bit rusty over the years. He scoffs, closing his eyes to the sun brightly shining in his face.

"That's ridiculous! I'm as much of a _play-ah_now than I was back in the old days!" Jiraiya encourages himself, pushing himself off the bed and marching into the bathroom to clean himself up.

When he finishes, he strides down the hallway, descends the stairs, and swings open the front door of the hotel. He takes a moment to take in the freshness of the afternoon air before looking up the street. He sees two familiar looking, woman shaped figures heading down the road. He shakes his head and rubs his eyes, making sure he wasn't just imagining things. By the time he takes a second glace, the figures had vanished.

--

"Shizune! Where the hell are we??" asks Tsunade, sending questioning glances at all the building she was passing by. Shizune clears her throat and hurries to the blonde woman's side while cradling a dozing Ton-Ton in her arms.

"We're in Tanzuka Town, which is about a day's walk from Konohagkure, malady." the dark haired woman replies. Tsunade exhales loudly and throws her hands in the air.

"Finally! It took us long enough!" she exclaims as Shizune narrows her eyes at the back of the sannin's head. "Well, maybe if you hadn't have gotten us lost, it wouldn't have taken us this long!"

"Me?? How was that my fault?? You were the one that wanted to ask for directions from the drunkard on the side of the road, Shizune!!" Tsunade snaps, shooting a glare at the woman from the corner of her eye. Shizune pouts and glowers back at the blonde woman in front of her.

"The whole reason why I had to ask for directions was because you didn't know where the fu--" Shizune rear-ends Tsunade when she suddenly freezes, causing her bitter response to be interrupted.

The sannin gazes at the gambling hall at the end of the street, her money burning holes in her pockets. She hurriedly begins walking towards it and when Shizune finally realizes where it was she was in such a rush to get to, it was too late to stop her.

"Hurry up, Shizune!" commands Tsunade, slipping inside the gambling hall. The dark haired woman sighs and follows in after her. "Lady Tsunade! Please don't spend up all your money! You still have IOU's to pay off!"

--

After a couple of rounds on the slot machine, an uproar breaks out at the front of the gambling hall. Shizune rises from her seat beside Tsunade to check it out. A man with long, white hair sitting at a table at the front of the building was arguing with one of the employees.

"If you don't have the money to pay for your meal, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." reasons the employee as the man at the table frantically searches his pockets for his wallet.

"I have the money! I... just... can't... find... it..." the man retorts, rising from his chair to check his pant pockets. Shizune watches the white haired man inquisitively, sensing a familiar quality in him.

The employee sighs heavily, grabbing the man by the arm and dragging him to the door. "I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to go."

The man furrows his eyebrows at the employee, snatching his arm from his grasp. "Do you have any idea who I am?? I'm Jir--" The employee kicks the man out the front door before he could finish his sentence.

Shizune gasps, realizing who the man was. She turns to Tsunade, who was completely focusing on the slot machine in front of her.

"Malady, I think that was--" Tsunade raises a hand to Shizune's face to shush her as she pulls the lever on the machine. The sannin stares at the little dials turning behind the glass, watching the images as they slowly become visible.

Cherry.

Cherry.

Clover...

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Look what you made me do, Shizune!!"

--

Urumi and Sasuke's training day was slowly coming to a close as the sun begins to set upon the Hidden Leaf village. Orange, red, and pink streaks paint the skies, creating a warm, golden light. Urumi peels off her blindfold and looks out onto the horizon, her eyes glittering under the dwindling light of the sun.

She slips her katana back into her sheath and glances over at the poster hanging on the giant oak tree. A smile emerges on her face as she realizes she'd hit her mark dead on. Kakashi approaches from behind her and pats her on the shoulder.

"Nice work, Urumi. You're getting better everyday." he compliments, grinning under his mask. Urumi turns to face him, a smile still illuminating her face. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!"

Sasuke glares at the kunoichi from a distance, stewing in his own anger and jealousy. Ever since Urumi began training with Kakashi, her skills have been increasing at an alarming rate right before his eyes.

He snorts and glances at the dent he made in the rock face with the Chidori. His eyes travel to the right and he examines another dent, one he made when he first learned the jutsu. He was definitely improving, but it didn't hold a candle to Urumi.

"Come on, Sasuke. We're heading back to the village." announces the sensei as he descends from the top of the rock formation first. Urumi starts down the mountain face, but is stopped when the Uchiha grabs her by the wrist.

She turns and glances down at his hand, then she looks into his eyes, their gazes connecting. Sasuke's cold and unfeeling stare burns through Urumi's body, making her feel hollow. She pulls away from the dark haired gennin and frowns.

"Sasuke, what's up with you? You've been acting so strange lately." she asks as Sasuke narrows his eyes at her. He ignores her question and breaks his eyes away from hers.

"I'm challenging you to a fight. It's the only way I can test my abilities..." Sasuke explains, his voice dry and raspy. Urumi raises an eyebrow and extends her neck forward, utter confusion apparent on her face.

"What the hell? Are you serious??" she questions, taking a step forward towards Sasuke. He scowls, then pries his eyes away from the horizon, sparing Urumi one last icy glare.

His hand shoots up to her throat like lightning, pushing her head back to bare her neck. Urumi could've easily blocked this, but she had no intention on fighting... at least not now anyway.

He leans forward, his lips brushing against her ear. His breath, hot with rage, grazes her cheek as his grip on her neck tightens.

"Our match with take place tomorrow at the training grounds. If you even attempt to run away, I will find you..."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Day breaks upon the Hidden Leaf Village, orange, yellow, and pink streaks painting the sky. As the sun began to rise, casting elongated shadows across the ground, Naruto lay motionless in the grass fast asleep. He'd spent the previous night training nonstop. He hadn't even left the training grounds to eat, which amazed even himself.

As the boy sleeps, a small, black bird flies down from the treetops and wanders around the training ground. It finally approaches the water balloon that had rolled out of Naruto's grasp. The bird cautiously stabs at the balloon with it's beak, expanding it's wings each time the balloon moved. The black bird takes a moment to circle around the balloon, like a predator hunting down it's prey. It hops up on top of the balloon, digging into claws into the thin rubber outer layer.

Suddenly, the balloon pops, spooking the bird enough to take off into flight. It disappears into the trees, making loud rustling sounds as it fled.

Naruto groans sleepily and rolls over onto his stomach, the entire front of his body covered in moistened dirt and grass. He inhales deeply through his mouth, causing a fragment of the balloon to stick to his bottom lip. He begins to chew on it, his subconscious screaming at him to eat so that his rumbling stomach would settle.

Naruto's sleep-chewing begins to slow, the bitter taste of rubber diffusing into the the blonde's mouth. He sits up, eyes half lidded and the balloon fragment still hanging from his lips. The blonde yawns and rubs his eyes, but stops when he feels something between his teeth.

The gennin frowns and pulls the piece of rubber from his mouth, the fragment squeaking as it scrapes against his teeth. He examines the object dangling between his fingertips.

"The hell??"

He stands to his feet, the other fragments that once clung to his body, now falling to his feet. His eyes widen, recognizing the yellow clouds against the scarlet red back-splash.

The water balloon, his only key to unlocking this new jutsu, was gone...

When realization of this thought finally hit the blonde, his face cracks. The pupils of his eyes shrink and his mouth drops open, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!" he cries, dropping to his knees and his hands steadily rising to his head. The trees awaken with the roar of beating wings and rustling leaves. A mob of black birds emerges from the trees surrounding the training grounds. They soar through the air, eclipsing the sun as they fly past.

Jiraiya would be back in town today and if he found out about this incident--

Naruto shudders at the thought as he slowly rises to his feet, brushing away the drying dirt and grass clinging to his clothing. He'd have to find a replacement balloon and fast. He hurries into town, looking for any shop currently selling water balloons at eight in the morning. Unfortunately for him, instructors from the academy had bought out most of the water balloons for the students target practice exercise. Thus being turned down by every shop he visited for the next two and a half hours.

On the brink of defeat, Naruto bumps into a balloon cart. It clatters from the impact and the boy stumbles to the ground, flopping onto the pavement with a thump. The man pushing the cart freezes and stares down at the blonde with wide eyes.

"Are you okay, Kid?"

Naruto nods, rubbing the sore spot on his head. His eyes shifts from the man to the cart and a smile spreads across his face. The blonde scrambles to his feet and he leans over the side of the cart, peering inside to examine it's contents.

"Sir, do you have any water balloon by any chance?" Naruto's dry throat swallows, there was no answer as the man sifts through the materials in the cart. The man straightens back up after a few moments and smiles warmly, causing Naruto to sigh heavily in relief. The grinning man hands the blonde gennin a green and black striped balloon. It wasn't an exact replica of the balloon before, but it'd have to due.

"There you go, Kid," the man said, the grin still plastered on his porcelain face.

Naruto rakes his pockets for some money to pay Sir Grins-Allot. He pulls out a few crumpled dollar bills and hands them to the man, his stomach gurgling to life. Naruto chuckles and clutches his rumbling belly with one hand as the man waves and pushes his balloon cart down the street. The gennin sighs and runs over to Ichiraku's for a quick snack. He felt as if he hadn't eaten in ages, and of course, it just wasn't his style to pass up a chance at ramen!

Naruto orders the usual, four bowls of pork flavored miso ramen, the water balloon securely perched in his lap. He gobbles down the noodles in a heartbeat, finishing his meal in record time as the man behind the counter eyes him warily. He wrinkles his nose and fans his hand in front of his face. This behavior could have been a result from Naruto's lack of hygiene during his training with Jiraiya, plus he was covered with dirt and who-knows-what-else.

Naruto didn't care. He was just happy to have something in his stomach at the moment.

He quickly finishes off his last bowl, wiping remnants of noodle from his face with his shirt sleeve. Adding more stains to his already worn jumpsuit. The man behind the counter approaches him, holding his breath.

"What have you been up to lately, Kid?? You smell like a cow pie!!" he questions quickly, careful as not to release his held breath. He didn't want to experience another whiff of Essence of Naruto Uzumaki.

The blonde pouts and slumps in his chair, his good mood completely flushed down the crapper.

"I've been training," he snorts, hopping down from his stool, "Besides, you don't smell like a summer's daisy yourself, Garlic Breath."

With that, Naruto chuckles and walks away with the striped water balloon tucked under his arm. When the blonde was completely out of sight, the man behind the counter hesitantly cups a hand over his mouth and heaves a wave of hot breath into his palm, the smell of garlic resonating into his nose. He sputters a cough and quickly searches for a breath mint.

--

When Naruto arrives at his apartment complex, he hears a low meowing from the back alley echoing throughout the corridors. He narrows his eyes and heads down the alleyway to check it out. He stops at the corner and peers around it-- just what he expected, a cat.

The black ball of fur launches itself at a small ball of yarn, pawing at the fuzzy pink ball from all sides. Naruto watches the cat in amusement, leaning against the wall of the building with his arms crossed over his chest. The black cat continues to swat at the ball of yarn until it begins to loosen. Finally it unwinds, getting caught in the cat's gnarled black claws. The cat shakes it's paw, desperately trying to release itself from the vengeful yarn.

Suddenly, something clicks in Naruto's brain, a grin sweeping across his lips. He runs to his apartment and fumbles with his keys, jabbing at the keyhole frantically. He's able to pull himself together long enough to open the door and get inside. He jumps on his bed, his legs crossed Indian-style as he stares down at the water balloon in his hand.

He brings up his other hand and begins to paw at it, imitating the cat's exact cycle. Naruto keeps this up for a couple of rounds until the water balloon ruptures, leaving Naruto soaking wet. He blinks away the water in his eyes, the rest of his body frozen in shock. Slowly a smile spreads across his face.

"Yeah!! I did it!! Believe it!!" he cheers, pumping his fists into the air happily. Gradually, his cheering winds down to a stop, his nose wrinkled in disgust. He lowers his arms to his sides, a smell stirring in the air hits him like a brick wall. He hesitantly raises one of his arms and sniffs himself. He jumps back as the horrid odor attacks his nostrils again.

Major Revelation: Wet stick doesn't smell too pleasant...

--

Urumi enters the training grounds wearing a frown on her face-- No sign of Sasuke yet. Had he forgotten all about this challenge of his??

She sighs and sits under a tree, the soil around it's base moist and foul smelling. She groans in disgust, rising back to her feet to brush off the back of her capris. She wipes her hands of the muck and allows her eyes to wander around the clearing, searching for any sign of the young Uchiha.

At first, Urumi really didn't want to go through with this battle with Sasuke, but she figured it'd be the only way to test how well the skills she'd learned while training with Kakashi were developing.

She just needed to know if she'd be able to free herself from the curse and most of all; of Orochimaru...

She hears stifled breathing from the tree towering above her, the soft, muted sound cutting through the silence that settled over the forest like a knife.

Urumi smirks, assuming her opponent hadn't yet realized she'd caught on to their attempted ambush. She takes a step forward, then another, figuring the farther she gets from this spot, the sooner her attacker would eventually have to reveal themselves.

A twig snaps in half, and in an instant, Sasuke bursts out from the leaves, launching himself towards the kunoichi. At that exact moment, Urumi pulls out her katana and holds both ends in either hand, blocking against Sasuke's surprise attack. He bounces off the blade, wincing as his contact with the katana singes the cloth sleeve covering his forearm.

Urumi lowers her weapon to her side as she stares down at her hand that was blanketed in fresh blood. The tip of her blade drips the red stain into the grass as Sasuke stumbles backward and slams into the tree behind him. Urumi's cursemark flares up, flashing bright red and yellow as her clan's murderous blood pulsates through her veins. The markings begin to spread, but stops at the base of her jawline and her shoulder blade.

"So you decided to show up, Sasuke? I thought you might've chickened out on me," Urumi remarks bitterly, raising her sword and tapping the dull side of the blade on her shoulder. "I just couldn't let you get off with doing this."

The kunoichi points to the reddish ring around her neck with a frown on her face. Sasuke pushes himself off the tree trunk he was leaning against and approaches the girl, clutching his injured arm in his hand.

"I have no reason to run from you, Makura." the Uchiha clearly states, scowling coldly at Urumi as his stoic eyes blaze with furry. She rolls her jade green eyes and sighs heavily, her blade halting in midair. "Then there's no reason to delay this match any further, is there?"

Sasuke smirks, igniting his sharingan as a wave of confidence washes over him. Urumi was quick on her feet, but with the help of his kekei genkai he should be able to track her every move. Urumi watches his eyes transform from smoke gray to a deep, crimson red in a flash. It was a rarity to see such a kekei genkai like the sharingan in battle.

"I'll show you that true skill doesn't evolve from a test tube, Makura." the Uchiha snarls before vanishing from Urumi's sight.

She frowns and turns away from the looming oak tree. She scans the treetops carefully for Sasuke while trying to figure out how he found out about her clan's birth. All records from the research had be destroyed after the Great War, and barely anyone ever spoke of the events that took place behind closed doors so many decades ago.

Sasuke watches her from a treetop not too far from the girl on the ground level. With all the time he spent examining Urumi during their time training together, he knew she was better suited for close ranged attacks. The Uchiha figures that if he attacks her from afar, he'd have a higher chance of winning.

He pulls out a shuriken and aims it at the kunoichi, who had her back turned to him. She hears the weapon tearing through the air and whips around, deflecting the shuriken with her katana. She flash steps and takes off into the trees after Sasuke.

He stands from his sitting position on the tree branch he was perched on and looks around. He couldn't hear anything. No stifled breathing, or even the rustling of leaves.

Then he hears it-- the pitter-pat of hard soles against rough tree bark. By the time Sasuke realizes Urumi standing behind him, it's too late. She drives the side of her hand into the back of his neck and knees him in the back, pushing his body forward and over the edge of the branch.

His mind leaves his body for a moment as he falls. The force from the blow to the back of the neck alone was enough to knock him out cold, and she wasn't even using half of her true power.

Sasuke regains consciousness right before impact, a surge of pain erupting from his spine as Urumi lands lightly beside his aching body. The markings from the cursemark diffuse upon her skin's surface again. She chuckles softly in amusement as the boy shakily rises to his feet. He wipes the blood from his chin and glowers at the kunoichi.

"What are you waiting for, Sasuke? This is what you wanted, isn't it??" asks Urumi, a tone of false innocence in her voice. He spits a red substance at her feet and takes a step forward, his crimson eyes recording her slightest movements. The kunoichi grins mischievously at the dark haired gennin as an enraged growl escapes from his throat.

"Stop playing around with me, Makura!" Sasuke demands, charging at Urumi with all his strength. He begins throwing punches at the kunoichi, but she blocks them all. Frustrated, he attempts one more strike, forcing his entire weight into the punch.

Urumi catches his fist, that was currently aimed for her face. She smirks and leans forward into the Uchiha, twisting his wrist into a painful angle. He cries out and jerks himself away from her grasp, gripping his wrist as he stumbles backward.

The auburn haired gennin takes this moment to swipe her sword at the youngest living heir to the Uchiha clan. Luckily, Sasuke evades this attack at the last minute, causing the blade to slightly graze his side. The wound wasn't deep enough to draw blood, but it did break the skin.

"The only reason you challenged me to this fight was to test yourself-- To see if your skills were developed enough to fulfill your goal, am I correct?"

"Shut up, Makura!"

"It seems pretty far-fetched to me, Sasuke."

"You don't know what you're talking about! Shut up!"

"You'll never be able to do it--"

-you don't have enough hatred-

The deep, emotionless voice of Itachi echoes within Sasuke's mind, immediately kindling a flame of anger in the bottom of his stomach. He lashes out at the kunoichi, who back-flips away to dodge the gennin's sudden attack.

On the landing, Urumi looses her footing on the slick mud and grass that had settled along one of the tree's bases. Before she had a chance to recover, Sasuke pounces on her, knocking her off her feet. He forces his weight onto her chest, making it difficult for her to breath. She gasp for air as Sasuke stares down at her with rage fixated in his eyes.

"You don't understand, so just shut up!!" the Uchiha exclaims, his voice dry and cracking as he pulls out a kunia and presses it into Urumi's throat. She holds her breath, limiting her movements to a minimum. For some reason, Urumi wasn't phased by her current predicament, but something in the air causes it to pulsate, sending messages to the cursemark which ignite the blood lust haze clouding her mind.

The cursemark emerges upon the rest of her body, the whites of her eyes darken to a murky black while the irises turn from jade green to gold. Her entire sub-conscious now emerged in darkness. She no longer had control and the seal was broken...

--

Tsunade, Shizune, and Ton-Ton finally arrive at the Leaf Village's front entrance gate wearing worn expressions on their faces. The last few days had been pretty hectic for everyone. Like the other night for example, Tsunade blew all her money at the gambling hall in Tanzuka Town so the group couldn't afford to stay at a hotel. They ended up having to walk the entire distance between Tanzuka Town and Konohagkure without rest, which left the blonde haired sannin in quite grumpy mood.

She takes a moment to look around for any sign of Jiraiya, but he was nowhere to be found...

"Dammit," Tsunade groans angrily, her expression remains worn. Apparently, her body was too tired to react to her building rage, "where is that bastard?? Did he call me all the way out here for nothing??"

Shizune clears her throat and places a hand on the sannin's shoulder. Ton-Ton flops down onto the packed-dirt ground at the dark haired woman's feet, too tired to stand as the little pink porker snorts from exhaustion.

"Malady, I tried to tell you before that I saw Jirai--" Tsunade growls and jerks away from her assistant, causing the woman to topple over onto the ground with a loud thud. The sannin scoops up Ton-Ton and marches into the village.

"Shizune! Get up off your ass and help me find that damn Jiraiya! If I know him, he's probably flirting with some hussy he found on a street corner..."

The dark haired woman sighs and staggers to her feet as she tries her best to catch up the with Tsunade. "Why doesn't she just listen to me every once in awhile??"

--

After about an hour and a half of scouring the Hidden Leaf village from top to bottom, Tsunade, Shizune, and Ton-Ton take a moment to rest at Ichiraku's ramen shop. The blonde haired woman slouches forward, folding her arms on top of the counter as she buries her forehead into her forearms.

Tired and achy, her body couldn't take anymore strain, and because they were short on cash, they couldn't eat. The sweet aroma of freshly cooked ramen wafts into their bodies, causing their stomach's to gurgle and growl. Tsunade sighs and shakes her head sleepily.

"Son of a bitch! I can't believe him!" she murmurs angrily, her bloodshot eyes shutting tightly as she shakes her head a few more times. Shizune strokes Ton-Ton's back as she tries to think of a way to cheer up the half-dozing woman sitting beside her. After a moment of silence, she finally finds her words.

"Don't worry, Malady. We'll find him..." Unfortunately was all she was able to come up with.

Another void enters their conversation, leaving the women in yet another tense silence. The man behind the counter of the ramen shop clears his throat and chuckles awkwardly, breaking the reticence.

"Are you two ready to order yet?"

Tsunade lifts her head to where only her eyes were visible to the man. She narrows them into a merciless glare, causing the man to flinch in fear. He sweat drops and scurries away to the back kitchen as Tsunade snorts and lowers her head to the counter once more.

"Lady Tsunade! You didn't have to scare off the poor--"

Shizune's words seem to trail off when a heavy hand takes hold of Tsunade's shoulder. A hearty laugh cuts through the sound of simmering pots in the kitchen hidden in the back of the ramen shop.

Tsunade sits up, curious to why Shizune abruptly stopped talking. The familiar scent of musty cologne overpowers her senses as she does and a smirk spreads across her face.

There was no doubt in her mind-- It had to be him...

--

Sasuke's anger quickly fades as he watches Urumi's transformation. The cursemark covering her body meshes together, tinting her skin to a gloomy gray and her hair flushes purple.

She smirks at the fear in his red eyes and the Uchiha flinches. Looking into her eyes gave him the same sensation it did when he first saw Orochimaru.

He attempts to get up, but before he could even move a muscle, Urumi's hand curls around his neck. Her grip on him tightens as she lifts him up and tosses him to the side. He gasps and tries to catch his breath before he staggers to his feet.

"This must be the full power of the cursemark..." he thinks aloud, massaging his sore neck. Urumi chuckles manically and launches toward him, pinning him against a tree trunk with her gnarled black claws piercing into his stomach.

He cries out in pain, tossing his head back against the tree as blood drips down his chin from his mouth. Urumi's free hand caresses his cheek, her nails digging into his flesh as she levels his eyes to hers.

"It's kind of a shame actually. The truth is I never really needed to release my full power for someone as minuscule and pathetic as you." she scoffs mockingly, trailing her fingertips down his neck and chest. He grunts and shakes his head, shutting his eyes to the sneering, golden orbs of Urumi.

"No! Let go of me!!" he exclaims, a hint of distress and fear noticeable in his voice. The eldest Makura leans into Sasuke, her lips brushing against his ear as she smirks.

"As you wish," she forces her claws deeper into the Uchiha's stomach, causing him to emit another outcry of anguish. He tumbles down to her feet like a lifeless doll as she rolls her eyes. She turns her back to him and leaves his body to retrieve her fallen weapon.

Sasuke sputters out a cough, blood continuing to slither down his chin as he struggles to remove a shuriken from his holster. He throws it in Urumi's direction and it hits her in the center of her back.

He smirks as her limp body falls to the ground. He releases a sigh of relief and rests his head down in the grass. His eyes close involuntarily as his body slowly begins to shut down from the amount of blood loss during his battle.

Because of his momentary loss of consciousness, he didn't notice that Urumi had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When he regains his senses it was too late for him to react to Urumi's surprise attack from the treetops.

She drops down from the trees with her bloodstained katana raised high over her head. Upon landing, she straddles his back and drives the bloody tip of her weapon into the boy's right forearm. Her blood coating her katana from her mishap earlier mixes with his inside the wound. He cringes and bites back a yelp as his attacker steps over him with a smirk occupying her face.

"Is that it?" he questions, cupping his hand over his wound. "Is that all you're going to do?"

"You haven't seen anything yet," she chuckles before preforming a series of hand signs. "I've been meaning to try out this new jutsu of mine for awhile now. You'll be happy to know that you'll be it's first victim."

She closes her hand into a fist, coincidentally applying pressure to chakra points in Sasuke's injured arm. This constricts the chakra channels, limiting the amount of chakra in his arm. He could feel his injured limb growing cold and numb and he winces. Urumi tightens her bloody fist, applying even more pressure to Sasuke's chakra points.

Sasuke releases yet another outcry, holding his arm to his body as he flops from side to side like a fish out of water. Urumi grins and tightens her fist again. Any further application of pressure and Sasuke's chakra points will rupture, discontinuing any further use of his right arm.

Although Sasuke's entire body was throbbing in pain, in a weird sense of the word, he was happy. He was able to get a demonstration of the kind of power he'd be ensure if he joined Orochimaru and this pain just made him even more hungry for that power.

He was determined more than ever to find Orochimaru no matter what the costs...

Just then, the pain erupting in his arm begins to ease. He untucks his head from his chest to see what was going on, but his vision seemed to be blurred and hazy.

"Urumi! Stop what you're doing!" Sasuke hears a familiar voice he thought to be Kakashi command. Urumi turns her attention away from the Uchiha and faces the masked jonin.

"And you really think that you can stop me?" she questions, a hint of amusement apparent in her voice. She grins and turns back to the Uchiha, but before she could resume with her previous activities, Kakashi grabs her by her wrists and pulls her away.

"What are you doing--" Kakashi stamps a tranquilizer into Urumi's side, cutting off her threat. Her eyes glaze over and she collapses to the ground, the cursemark recoiling back to it's dormant state.

Kakashi sighs and walks over to Sasuke with a frown hidden behind his mask. "Sasuke, what is going on here?"

The Uchiha snorts and struggles to pick himself up off the ground. "Nobody asked you to intervene." he coldly responses, brushing past the sensei.

Kakashi grabs him by the shoulder and pulls Sasuke towards him. "If I hadn't, you would have died! Do you understand that??"

The raven-haired gennin slaps the jonin's hand away and disappears in a flash just as Naruto enters the training grounds.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" he asks curiously as he examines the sensei's expression. It was obvious something was bothering him.

"Naruto, I was hoping you'd show up. I have some very important news to tell you all, but I had to break up a fight between Sasuke and Urumi. Now Sasuke's gone..." the masked man explains as he watches Naruto eyes drop to Urumi's body.

The blonde frowns as Urumi closes her eyes to him, completely ashamed of what had happened. The tranquilizer Kakashi had used only momentarily paralyzed her, so she was still completely aware of her surroundings.

Naruto raises his gaze to Kakashi once more with a frown still plastered on his face. "Sensei, what exactly did you come here to say?"

"The Third Hokage," he begins, his eyes lowering to his feet, "has been killed..."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Who sent you here??"

_Silence_

"Answer the damn question!"

_Silence_

"Tell me who the hell sent you here!!" exclaims Anko, a jonin of the Hidden Leaf as she grips the collar of one of the group of three assassins. He tilts his head to the side and closes his bright colored eyes to her. The fact that he'd be sentenced to death for the murder of the Third Hokage wasn't enough to break his silence.

"Anko. It's obvious we aren't going to get any information from them. You might as well just drop it." advices Asuma, also a jonin of the Hidden Leaf village as he puffs on the cigarette between his teeth. He places a firm hand on the woman's shoulder, lightly pulling her away from the red haired boy chained to the chair before them.

Anko jerks away from the man's grasp and bats the large lighting fixture hanging above her head, which illuminated the dark, steel plated chamber they were in. She whips around to face the bearded man with a frown weighted on her lips.

"Drop it?? How am I suppose to do that when our leader is dead or have you forgotten??" Anko questions aggressively, quickly turning back around to glower at the trio of Sand Village shinobi under interrogation. Asuma sighs heavily and lifts the cigarette from his lips before stomping it out.

"Well, doesn't that all sound familiar?" he murmurs sarcastically under his breath as he heads for the door. Anko snorts and stamps her hand on her hip, shaking her head slowly.

"I really wish you'd leave what happened between us in the past alone..."

"That's all just a distant memory to me now, Anko, but are you sure that you've moved on from it?" Asuma replies coolly, reaching for the door handle.

He hears Anko growl angrily and waits for her next snappy remark. He was used to this kind of treatment from her. During the two years that they've been together romantically, all they ever did was argue.

"Get the hell out of my face..." Anko bitterly snarls, burying her chin in her chest as she folds her arms.

There was no way for her to move on from their past together. She loved him more than anything, even if all they ever did was fight. Of course, Asuma probably didn't feel the same anymore especially since he had Kurenai now...

"My pleasure," Asuma chuckles, yanking open the door with one fluid movement of his arm. He steps out into the hallway and begins to pull the door shut behind him as a smirk breaks out upon his face. He was confident for once that he had scored the last word.

"Have fun screwing Kurenai." Anko remarks with a cheeky grin as she turns and waves daintily at her former lover in the doorway. Asuma grunts and slams the door shut behind him. He pulls out a carton of cigarettes from his pocket and slips one in between his lips. As he searches for a lighter, one of the Anbu standing guard by the door taps him on the shoulder.

"You can't smoke in this area, Sir," he states sternly as Asuma glances over his shoulder to face the masked shinobi. His eyes narrow into a menacing scowl, scaring the Anbu Black Op half out of his mind. Asuma lights his cigarette and heads out of the building, but as he approaches the main entrance he begins to regret leaving Anko alone with those three gennin from the Sand Village.

He freezes at the door and puffs at his cigarette as he considered turning back to check on Anko. If he did, his return would surely start yet another argument, but if he continued on his way there's a chance that she could get hurt or even worse. Even though that woman aggravated him to no end, she was still a human being, and he couldn't let that happen.

Asuma sighs and turns his back to the entrance, "Well, maybe I should go bac-"

His train of thought was interrupted by the blaring of sirens from within the fortress. There was definitely something wrong...

_Red alert! Red alert! The prisoners escaped! I repeat-- The prisoners escaped!_

Anko's voice erupts from the speakers throughout the building. Asuma growls and takes off into a sprint back up the stairs to the containment unit he left Anko in.

"I leave for five minutes and you already--" the bearded man freezes in the doorway as he looks around the steel plated room. The three Sand gennin were missing and Anko had collapsed on the ground, her leg twisted and mangled...

--

"Dead?? How?? There has to be some sort of mistake! There's no way that the old man's dead!" Naruto exclaims hysterically in disbelief, his eyes wide and his face pale. Kakashi sighs heavily and combs his fingers through his hair slowly.

"A trio of gennin from the Sand Village assassinated the Hokage during the Chunnin Exams. We have them in containment at the moment." the sensei explains stoically, his downcast eyes meeting with Urumi's motionless body at his feet. Naruto remains silent, shaking his head with his mouth hung open in shock. It just didn't make sense. What exactly was there to gain from this??

_-Unless...-_

Naruto's expression hardens into a scowl as he steps forward towards the masked jonin, "Kakashi-sensei, do you think they might have some kind of connection with Orochimaru?" he asks with an unruffled tone in his voice. Taken aback by the boy's question, Kakashi blinks his eyes a number of times before replying with a shrug.

"That's always a possibility, but what makes you think he has anything to do with this? We aren't on great terms with the Sand Village to begin with, you know?" the older man says as Naruto grunts and tightens his hands into fists.

"There's no doubt in my mind about it. This definitely has his name written all over it."

When a cold silence enters their conversation, Kakashi turns his head in the direction that Sasuke had left. He had to find him and tend to those injuries before he did something drastic, "Do me a favor and take Urumi home, Naruto."

With that, the jonin runs off in the same direction Sasuke had fled in, disappearing through the surrounding greenery. The blonde watches him leave and once he vanishes from sight, hesitantly lowers his gaze to Urumi, who still had her eyes closed.

He stares at her face, which was splattered with blood as well as the front of her shirt and her hands. He couldn't tell if it was her blood or not, but she didn't look the least bit injured. He wonders how badly Sasuke must look right now as he studies the amount of blood on Urumi's katana.

"Urumi--"

"Please," the fallen kunoichi whimpers as she buries her face into the grass, "Don't-- Just don't..."

Naruto sighs and approaches her, kneeling down beside her, "Can you at least tell me why?" he asks, wrapping his hand around the tape covered handle of Urumi's katana laying in the grass on her left side. Despite the pain erupting from his hand from the burns, he slips the weapon into the sheath, pulling the leather bond holster from her back and hoisting it onto his shoulder.

"I lost control... I could've killed him..." Urumi laments as tears begin to form in her eyes. She stares at her bloodstained hand and frowns in disgust. Naruto bites his bottom lip, trying to find something to say to comfort her, but nothing came. He decides to remain silent, thinking it be best for the both of them in case he said something he'd regret later on. The blonde gennin flips her onto her back and picks her up bridal style.

The walk to the apartment complex was painfully quiet between the two gennin. The only thing that could be heard was the hushed chattering of the villagers around them. Neither could hear exactly what they were saying because the villagers immediately stopped their talking as soon as they walked by.

Urumi buries her face into Naruto's chest, certain that she could hear her name in their conversations.

"Naruto," the kunoichi laments as they turn into the alleyway leading to Urumi's apartment, "Am I a monster?"

The blonde inhales sharply, keeping his gazes fixated on the ground before him. Of course he didn't think that she was a monster. He knew her heart was too pure for that, but he still couldn't get passed all the bloodshed that He had caused...

"Orochimaru is the real monster here; not you." he finally replies, releasing his held breath as he speaks. Urumi stares up at his emotionless expression as they approach her front door.

"I'll be fine on my own, Naruto..." she asserts snappily, pushing herself away from him. She flops onto the pavement on her knees and growls under her breath, yanking out the tranquilizer dart from her side. Naruto hooks his arms under her's and pulls her to her feet.

"I don't think the effects from the tranquilizer have worn off yet. Let me help you inside, Urumi." the blonde says calmly as she shakes her head. The girl straightens herself up and staggers over to the door, leaning against the wall to steady herself while she searches for her key.

"No, Naruto. I've troubled you enough already... I'm sure you have other things to do other than babysit me..." the auburn haired gennin refuses, slowly edging the key into the slot under the door handle.

Naruto smiles weakly as he curls his fingers around her wrist, assisting her as she unlocks the door. "Really, it's alright." he assures her as he opens the door, wraps an arm around her waist and leads her to her room. He helps her into her bed and leaves to fetch a washcloth.

When he returns to the room, he's met by Urumi cold stare. "Why have you stayed by me all this time? I mean, I'm nothing but a monster anyway..." she asks as Naruto sits on the edge of her bed, dabbing her face and hands with the damp washcloth clutched in his hand.

"Because I," He considers telling her how he truly feels, but decides against it. It's just not the right time, "I want to help you. That's what friends are for after all, right?"

Urumi grunts lightly as he dabs her injured hand. He stops and lowers his eyes to her hand, noticing the three inch long cut on her palm. She pulls her hand away from him and uses it to try and pull off her shirt, but her arms were still alittle weak from the tranquilizer.

"Can you help me take this shirt off? I'm sick of looking at it..."

Naruto blushes and rises from his seat on the bed with wide eyes, "Um, are you sure you want to do that??" he questions nervously, fiddling with the blood-stained rag in his hands. Urumi rolls her eyes and sighs, "I'm wearing an undershirt..."

The blonde chuckles and slings the rag over his shoulder as he pulls Urumi's teal shirt up over her head. Like she said, Urumi was in fact wearing a dark gray camisole underneath her shirt. Naruto exhales deeply and places the article of clothing on the nightstand beside her bed.

As he does, he happens to glance down at the clock. He jumps back in panic at the time. Urumi looks back at the clock as well, then turn to Naruto. Her lips part to ask him what was wrong, but was interrupted by his excessive hyperventilating.

"I almost forgot! Pervy Sage is coming back today! I'm sorry, Urumi, but I have to go!" he exclaims, pulling the rag off his shoulder and tossing it on the nightstand as well. He waves at his teammate before heading for the front door. As he approaches the door, the door suddenly opens.

"Hi, Naruto. What are you doing here?" asks Kaori, peaking over the top of a large, brown bag. She slides off her shoes and places the grocery bag on the table before turning to face the gennin.

"I came over to drop your sister off, but I really have to go! I'll talk to you later!" he explains hurriedly as he rushes out the door, closing it behind him.

--

What took you so long?? Do you know what kind of crap I had to go through to come here??" barks Tsunade angrily, threatening to clobber the white maned man with a tight fist. The man laughs again and seats himself beside her.

"I'm sorry I kept you ladies waiting so long, but there was some business I had to attend to first." he apologizes sincerely, winking at the chef's daughter at the other end of the counter. She chuckles weakly and scurries into the back room.

Tsunade rolls her eyes and clears her throat, earning the Toad Sage's full attention. "Well, the least you could do is treat us to some ramen while we're here." she says with a frown to show that her suggestion was really more along the lines of a demand.

"What happened to your wallet??" he asks as the blonde woman growls and glances over her shoulder to glare at her assistant. "Ask her..."

Shizune waits for her superior to return her attention to the man before sticking her tongue out at the woman. Jiraiya laughs dryly as he scratches the back of his head in reaction to Tsunade's chilling scowl. "Actually, I kind of misplaced my wallet during my _**research**_..."

"Great! Now I get to starve!" the blonde woman exclaims sarcastically with a false smile as she plops her chin into her hand, her elbow resting on the counter top.

"Wait," Jiraiya rises from his stool as a smirk gradually spreads across his face, "I know someone who might have some money we can burrow..."

Shizune shakes her head and sighs heavily, standing from her seat as well, "I hope you're sure about this," Shizune lowers her voice and leans closer to Jiraiya, "Lady Tsunade is already grumpy. I'm not too sure how long we have until she explodes."

The blonde woman tosses a chopstick at the back of Shizune's head and slides out of her stool while her face twists into a grimace, "Shut up! I'm right here, you know??"

"See! That's what I'm talking about!" Shizune mouths silently to Jiraiya, earning herself a punch in the arm by her superior as she brushes past the dark haired woman.

--

The Toad Sage leads the way to their currently unknown destination, but during their walk, the conversation between the three of them had diminished drastically.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade begins, breaking the ice as with a stern and serious voice, "What exactly did you summon me here for? You didn't really specify in the scroll you sent me."

The man sighs and stops abruptly at the entrance of the woods, turning to face the two women and the pig dozing in Shizune's arms, "Initially, I summoned you here to train a student--"

Tsunade's hands curl into fists and they immediately shoot up to her hips, "You know? You've got some nerve to call me all the way out here to train some twerp, you dirty bastard!"

"But--"

"But what??"

"Because of some recent events, I need to ask something else of you," Jiraiya states as Tsunade snorts, allowing him permission to continue, "Tsunade, the village--"

"Pervy Sage! Pervy Sage! Guess what!!" Naruto interjects as he bounds over to the group of adults while he grins from ear to ear.

"What? You have some money you're willing to loan me?" asks the older man with a snicker as the blonde gennin frowns.

"What?? No! I finally mastered that new jutsu, Rasengan!"

Shizune groans and glares at Jiraiya, "Please don't tell me that that was your plan..."

He shrugs, "Then I guess I won't."

"Pervy Sage, who are they?" questions Naruto as he examines the faces of the older women. Jiraiya turns away from the irritated expressions of the women and looks down at the gennin.

"Oh, this is Tsunade and Shizune. I told you about them, remember?"

Naruto stares extra hard at the blonde sannin, taking in her youthful facial features and her firm skin. He narrows his eyes at his sensei and pouts, "Hey... She doesn't look like an old hag to me. Are you sure you were talking about the right lady?"

Tsunade glowers at her old teammate with such intensity, that he could feel her eyes burning holes into his skin.

"Who are you callin' an old hag, Jiraiya??"

"Give it up, Tsunade! You're as old as I am and you really need to start acting like it!"

"I can say the same thing about you and all your skirt chasing!" the blonde woman snaps at the man as Naruto stares at the both of them.

"Well, you were right about her being crabby..."

"Crabby?? I don't need to take this! Come, Shizune! We're leaving!"

"Tsunade, wait! I'm sorry," Jiraiya pleads, gripping her by the arm tightly, "please forgive the boy. I don't know what got into him."

Naruto frowns and crosses his arms over his chest, "Hey! You're the one that said all that stuff! I'm just repeating it!"

The Toad Sage looks over his shoulder and mouths, _If you don't shut up right now, I swear my foot is going to be so far up your ass, you'll be able to taste it!_ The gennin flinches and immediately closes his mouth, covering it with both hands.

"Anyway, you can't leave yet, Tsunade."

"And why not?" she hisses, pulling her arm away from the man's grasp.

"You haven't heard my favor." Jiraiya reminds her, watching her expression shift from extremely outraged to slightly irritated.

"What is it? And you'd better make it quick."

"Right," the white haired man straightens himself up and clears his throat, "Tsunade. Would you be willing to be the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village?"

Both of the blonde's jaws drop as they gawk in disbelief at the man's question, "What??"

"You want _**her**_ to be the Fifth Hokage??"

"You want _**me**_ to be the Fifth Hokage??"

Jiraiya sighs and combs his fingers through his long white mane of hair, "It was decided upon years ago that Tsunade would be next in line to be Hokage after Sarutobi-sensei."

"But that would mean that Sarutobi-" The blonde sannin shakes her head, throwing her arms in the air as she steps back, "There's no way in hell that I'm going to be Hokage!"

"Tsunade! Listen," Jiraiya scolds, narrowing his eyes to her, "your village needs you!"

"What for??"

"Orochimaru," the older man's voice lowers to a cool tone, "he's returned..."

The blonde sannin freezes in mid-step, practically stumbling over due to her inability to balance herself from shock, "Orochimaru's what?? I thought he was dead!"

"When I first heard the news, I assumed the same thing." Jiraiya admits, massaging his right temple. He was beginning to develop a headache from all of Tsunade's screaming.

"What kind of crap is he meddling with this time?" she asks, crossing her arms in aggravation. Naruto steps forward, lowering as he thinks about all that's been done to Urumi.

"He's destroying the life of someone very close to me by turning her into a tool that he can use for his own personal gain!"

Jiraiya clasps a hand around the boy's shoulder and adds, "She's one of the last remaining members of the Makura clan..."

"Makura? Weren't they part of that whole military experiment?"

Shizune nods her head, "That was the experiment that Orochimaru was in charge of before his disappearance."

Orochimaru was head of the military department of the Leaf village, and the elite fighting shinobi experiment, which included the birth of the Makura, was his idea. As far as all the tests had revealed, the experiment was a success, but there was no way to actually know for sure without testing his subjects.

The only way for that to happen was if the Leaf village went to war, and because of the village's peaceful nature, that was instantly ruled out. He'd have to provock a war, and that's exactly what he did.

That marked the beginning of the Great War...

Tsunade furrows her brow and grunts as she tries to push aside her thoughts of Orochimaru, "So basically what you're telling me is, Jiraiya," she narrows her eyes at her teammate, "you only want me here to play babysitter to the village?"

"That's not even close to what I'm trying--"

"Just forget it! Like I said before; I'm not going to be the next Hokage!"

Tsunade turns away, grabbing Shizune by the wrist as she storms off in the direction from whence they came. Jiraiya sighs and shakes his head, watching them disappear into the town.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" asks Naruto as he tugs on the sleeve of the sannin's robes.

"Nah," he says, "it's not like she'll be able to go far..."

--

"Sakura! Can you come here a moment?" calls Mrs. Haruno from the kitchen as she wipes away some flour from her brow.

"Mom, did you need something?" asks the pink-haired kunoichi as she enters the kitchen. She watches her mother roll a lump of dough with a rolling pin for a moment, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, I need you to get me some fresh berries."

"Berries? Do want me to go to the store?"

Mrs. Haruno drops the wooden pin, "Heaven's no, Dear," she gasps, "I never buy my groceries from the store! I don't know what they do to them, but their berries just don't taste right!"

Sakura sighs, that's definitely something her mother would say... She's such a health nut. It's either organic or nothing for her...

The gennin walks over to the counter, crossing her arms over the counter top, "If you don't want me going to the store, then where else can I get the berries?"

"There's a place that I go to that's right outside the village's front gates." Mrs. Haruno says in a hushed voice as she winks at her daughter. Sakura winks back reluctantly. Her mother would always do this as a way to swear her to secrecy. It gets annoying after awhile; especially when whatever she's trying to keep secret isn't really a secret at all...

"I promise I won't tell a soul, Mom." the kunoichi assures her mother sarcastically, making sure to say it in a way that her parent wouldn't notice. Sakura pushes herself off the kitchen counter and grabs a woven basket on her way out of the house.

--

Sasuke approaches the village's front gates covered in bandages and a new goal in mind. His goal was to find Orochimaru and seek out his power no matter what it takes. After his defeat to Urumi, he was ready to harness that power for himself so he can get his revenge on his older brother and Urumi.

"Sasuke Uchiha..." a deep, raspy voice says from the darkness. Sasuke turns around to be met by the eyes of Gaara and his two siblings, Temari and Kankuro. The young Uchiha scowls as he stuffs his fists into his pockets.

"What do you want? Aren't you suppose to be participating in the Chuunin Exams right now?"

A smirk eases it's way onto the painted face of Kankuro as he chuckles a reply, "There was an... _**interruption**_... The exams had to be cancelled..."

Temari rolls her eyes and elbows him in the chest, "Shut up, moron..."

Gaara grunts and brushes past Sasuke as he passes through the large gateway, "Our business here is through. Let's go."

"Wait," the raven-haired gennin blurts, "Orochimaru-- Do you know where he is??"

The red haired Sand village gennin glances over his shoulder and studies Sasuke carefully. He slowly turns completely around to face him.

"You seek his power, don't you? I can see it in your eyes."

"Are we going to let him come with us?" Kankuro whispers to his brother in concern.

"Are you sure about this, Gaara? This could be some kind of trap!" Temari reasons, shoving Kankuro out of the way.

"If he tries anything," the boy with the gourd on his back says in a low voice, "I'll kill him."

Sasuke steps forward, "Are you going to take me to him or not??" he demands, a hint of desperation hidden in his eyes.

Gaara nods at Kankuro before taking off into the forest, "Just try not to slow us down." Kankuro sneers, turning to follow his brother.

Temari stands at the base of the gate with her hands on her hips as she watches Sasuke, she thinks, _He's surprisingly cute... I wonder why I never noticed that before..._

She hears a voice in the distance that pulls her out of her trance. Temari removes her gaze from the Uchiha and focuses on the girl running toward them. She narrows her eyes and opens her giant fan, releasing a huge gust of wind.

"No, it's okay. I can handle this." Sasuke says as Sakura approaches them, breathing wildly.

"Sasuke! What are you doing??" she sputters between breaths, staring into the Uchiha's face with starry eyes.

"I'm leaving, Sakura."

"What?? You can't go!!" Sakura clings to his arm, hugging it close to her body as she buries her cheek into his shoulder. Tears begin to form in her eyes from the very thought of losing her one, true love.

Sasuke pushes her away, "This isn't your decision. There's nothing you can possibly say that can change my mind."

The broken-hearted kunoichi pushes herself off the ground and staggers to her feet. There was no getting around this. She was going to have to tell him how she feels. This was her last hope...

"Sasuke," she laments as she leans into his chest, cupping his face in her hands, "I love you! There's nothing on this earth that I love more than you, so please stay with me!"

Sakura forces her lips onto his in a last stitch effort to win his heart and keep him from leaving the village. She deepens the kiss by combing her fingers through his hair when he doesn't respond. Her hands trail down from the nape of his neck to his shoulders, then finally rest on his chest as she finally pulls away, "So? What do you say??"

Sasuke stares at her with his usual dull expression as he pulls her into an embrace. Sakura sighs in relief as she buries herself his arms. She closes her eyes to the sight of Temari gagging. She tries to tune out everything else around her, but was interrupted by a loud chirping in her ear.

"Goodbye, Sakura..."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"I told you she wouldn't get too far. You should listen to me more, Knucklehead." boasts Jiraiya, kneeling beside Tsunade's limp body, which lay face-first in the pavement not even a block away from her point of exit.

Shizune looks on in concern, staring wide-eyed at the white haired sannin for a report on her Superior's condition.

Because of all the excitement, Ton-Ton awakens from her slumber and begins worriedly poking at her fallen care-taker. The little porker's nose nuzzles against the back of Tsunade's neck and she flinches. As she does, she inhales deeply, causing her to snore loudly.

"Are you fucking kidding me??" Shizune exclaims in frustration, slapping her palm hard into her forehead as she shakes her head.

"And here I was thinking we had a dead body to dispose of..." Jiraiya remarks smugly as he hoists the blonde woman into his arms and lifts her off the ground. Shizune snorts and crosses her arms firmly over her chest in disgust.

"You might as well just leave her there! We don't have any place to stay..." the dark haired woman sneers, narrowing her eyes at her unconscious partner hanging over Jiraiya's shoulder.

The older man shrugs with his free shoulder and scratches the back of his neck. He'd usually offer up his place in situations such as these, but he had no desire to spend anymore time than necessary with Tsunade. With her bad-temper, she'd probably bulldoze the entire building with one swing of her fist...

"Well, I guess you guys can stay with me for the time being." Naruto pipes in, timidly raising his hand over his head. He hesitates to look into the eyes of Shizune, who was completely taken aback by the boy's offer. It's been awhile since she's seen generosity like that.

"Why, thank you-- Um--"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Shizune stoops down to pick up their luggage from the pavement. As she straightens back up, she closes her eyes and smiles warmly at the boy to show her appreciation toward his gesture. Her appreciative grin slowly fades when she gets a good look at the boy's face. There was an air of familiarity about him that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but at the moment, she was too exhausted to think straight, so she shrugs the feeling away.

"So," Jiraiya interjects, shifting Tsunade's body from one shoulder to the next, "which way to your apartment?"

--

"Thanks again for having us over, Naruto." Shizune stresses, repeating herself for the third time since she entered the Uzumaki's humble abode. She sets the two luggage cases in her hands against the wall by the front door and turns to be greeted by Naruto's smiling face.

"It's not a big deal, really..." he chuckles weakly, rubbing his index finger under his nose as he tucks his other hand behind his head.

Jiraiya laughs heartily before plopping Tsunade onto the gennin's bed with a _thump_.

"Trust me, Kid. You have no clue what you've gotten yourself into..." he warns, making his way to the door as Shizune rushes over to the blonde, whose face had lightened a few shades from his sensei's remark.

"Don't listen to him! She's perfectly harmless--" Shizune lowers her head to keep from saying the rest of her statement. _"...as long as she's asleep..."_

"I want to see you bright and early at the training grounds tomorrow morning. I'd like to see your progress with Rasengan." Jiraiya orders, abruptly changing the subject before exiting the apartment.

"I guess you should wipe that stupid look off your face and go to bed then, huh?" Tsunade groggily suggests, sitting up in bed with half-lidded eyes and a trail of drool slithering down from the corner of her mouth to her chin.

Naruto jumps and turns to face her. He tries desperately not to laugh at the drunken expression on her face by launching himself towards a clothes pile that accumulated behind the headboard of his bed. He searches for his pajamas within the chaos and scurries to the bathroom to change while covering his mouth to smother his laughter.

Shizune watches him in confusion until she glances over at the blonde woman sitting on the bed. She dares a chuckle under her breath, but immediately covers it up with a forced cough.

"Malady, you might want to--" the sannin's assistant makes a gesture towards her face with her hand. Tsunade gradually gets the point and quickly wipes the drool from her chin.

Shizune glances over her shoulder towards the hallway Naruto had disappeared down, then takes a seat on the bed next to her superior. Tsunade narrows her eyes at her and sighs. She was completely too wiped out to deal with anymore of Shizune's excessive paranoia.

"What do you want??" she growls as she lies back down on the mattress, turning on her side to face the window on the other side of the bed.

"Does that kid seem familiar to you in any way?" asks the dark haired woman in a hushed voice. She notices the blonde woman cringe slightly and raises an eyebrow as she waits for a response.

After a few moments of silence, Tsunade sighs and glances over her shoulder at the woman sitting on the edge of the mattress.

"No, not really," she lies as her voice tenses, "Why do you ask?"

Shizune raises from her sitting position just as Naruto reenters the main living space with a stack of folded blankets and pillows cradled in his arms. He drops a few blankets on the couch along with a pillow before dropping the rest on the floor beside the bed.

"You're welcome to the couch if you want it."

"Are you really going to sleep on the floor like that?" asks Shizune.

"Yeah, I've slept in worse places before." Naruto replies with a light and airy chuckle.

The assistant's lips turn up into a slight grin as she settles in on the couch, realizing it was a lost cause to try and talk the boy out of this. Ton-Ton hops onto the couch alongside her and cuddles up next to her in the crook of her arm.

Naruto prepares his place on the floor, and when he finishes, lies down on his back with his arms behind his head. He gazes up at the textured ceiling in silence for the longest time until Tsunade leans over the edge of the bed.

"Where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall,"

The sannin crawls out of bed and trudges off down the narrow hallway. On her way to the bathroom, she spots two small bedrooms. One was full of storage boxes containing his clothing and his rather large stash of instant ramen, and the other was overflowing with scrolls and other ninja equipment.

Neither of the rooms had any kind of furnishings in them, which implied that the blonde gennin lived alone. This surprises Tsunade, considering the fact that the boy was so young.

"I would've offered you one of the bedrooms, but as you can see..."

Tsunade turns around quickly to see Naruto standing beside the door to the bathroom. She turns away from the bedroom door at the end of the hall and enters the lavatory, shutting the door behind her.

Naruto slumps to the floor by the doorway and cradles his head in his hands. The thought of Tsunade being Hokage has been bothering him all night. The idea that she'd be offered to do something that he's had his heart set on for years, and then be able to turn it down like that was just unbearable!

Once the running water stops, the door swings open and the sannin steps out.

"Why won't you do it?" Naruto blurts, prompting a startled gasp from the older woman.

"Why won't I do what??"

"Be Hokage!!"

Tsunade saunters down the hallway, stopping at the end where it opens up to the main living space, "It's just not for me, Kid..."

The gennin shoots up to his feet and follows her back to the bed, "So you'd rather waste your life away in front of a slot machine??"

"This has nothing to do with you, so just butt out!!"

"You're right, but this has everything to do with the village!!"

Silence.

Tsunade sits back against the headboard of the bed and stares out the window. An image of a smiling boy with spiky, brown hair and rosy cheeks emerges in her mind along with a man with flowing white hair and piercing, dark eyes. She shakes her head of her thoughts and looks up into the face of the blonde gennin glaring at her from the bedside.

"I just don't think I'm ready for that much responsibility yet, Kid."

"My name's not Kid; It's Naruto, and," his voice softens from the wave of exhaustion overcoming him as he settles back down under the sheets on the floor, "I'm sure you'll do the right thing when the time comes."

The young boy quickly dozes off after this, breathing softly through his slightly gaped mouth. Tsunade leans over the edge of the bed again and examines the gennin's face carefully.

"Naruto, huh? I guess that name _does_ sound familiar..."

--

The Uzumaki boy awakens first the next morning and fixes himself a large bowl of ramen before going into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Pulling off his nightcap, he enters his storage room and rummages through the boxes for his clothes.

He just finishes pulling on his pants when he realizes he didn't have a t-shirt in the box. He sighs and slings his jacket over his shoulder, walking into the main living space in search of one.

Shizune wakes up next and stretches, watching Naruto approach the bookcase at the foot of his bed where Tsunade still slumbered. She glances over at the wall clock hanging by the door. It was fifteen minutes to eight, and she was positive Jiraiya wasn't already at the training grounds.

"There has to be some other reason for him to up so early..."

Naruto finds a shirt draped over the top of the bookcase and slips it as he heads for the door. As he does, Shizune notices a seal along the boy's navel. She gasps alittle louder than she expected to, prompting a look from the blonde.

He hurriedly covers up the seal with his shirt and pulls on his jacket, zipping it up to the neck, "I'm leaving," was all he says before slamming the door shut behind him.

Naruto knocks on the door next to his apartment. After a moment the door swings open and Kaori explodes from the other side with a bag slung over her shoulder and bandages wrapped over her left and right hands. She runs right past him without even noticing him.

"Kaori! Wait!" Naruto exclaims as the youngest Makura spins around while she runs in place.

"Oh, hey. I can't really talk right now. I'm going to be late for class." she explains between heaving breaths. Naruto scratches the back of his head--

_"Is tardiness a trait amongst all Makura??"_

"I'm assuming you're here to visit Urumi. She's inside." Kaori chuckles weakly, a frown sneaking onto her face. Naruto notices this and raises an eyebrow, "Is there something wrong?"

"She's been acting strange since you brought her home the other day... I'm just worried, you know?"

The blonde gennin sighs and pushes open the door, nodding sullenly at the young student.

_"So much stuff has been happening lately. I wonder how she's been able to cope with it all."_

"Well, I have to get going. I'll see you later, Naruto." Kaori announces, turning around and racing off to school.

The spiky headed ninja watches her leave, and when she disappears from his sight, steps into the Makura's apartment, shutting the door after him. He looks across the living room and into Urumi's room, but finds it to be empty. He takes a few more steps further into the apartment, searching for any sign of life.

Suddenly he hears quiet sobbing from down the hall in Kaori's room. He tip-toes his way to the partly closed doorway to see Urumi leaning over a desk at the far corner of the room. She has a kunai in her quivering hand, the handle covered in blood.

"This is all my fault..." the oldest Makura sister laments, her voice shaky and almost inaudible. She clasps her other hand around the handle of the bloody weapon and slowly raises it above her head, tears still flowing from her eyes. A wave of pain begins to radiate from the cursemark on her neck, but she tries to fight it as best as she can.

Naruto's eyes widen, "There's no way she's really going to do that!"

"Every thing's wrong because of me..." she whimpers as she thrusts the kunai towards her heart, the pain increasing dramatically.

The door bursts open and Naruto springs into the room, tackling her right before the knife pierces her skin. Kneeling over her, he tries to pull the weapon from her hands, but Urumi keeps fighting him off.

"Do you know what the hell you're doing??" he scolds, gripping her wrists tighter.

"I'm saving you!! He'll stop all this if I--"

"Shut up!! If you think taking your life for even one second will do any good, then you're wrong!!"

Urumi releases the kunai from her grasp as she stares up into the eyes of the blonde. Naruto pushes it across the room. The sound of metal scraping against the wooden floors fills the air.

"You don't understand! I can't control the cursemark anymore! I'm a danger to everyone around me!"

"I don't care! We'll find a way through this; I promise! Just don't give up now!"

Urumi tilts her head toward the door, her eyes deadpan and dull, "You haven't heard them, have you?"

"Heard who??"

"The villagers. They think I had something to do with the murder of the Hokage."

"But Kakashi-sensei said they had the real culprits in containment--"

" Nobody knows that though, so it still doesn't stop them from suspecting me."

Naruto pulls the girl into an embrace, enclosing his arms around her gently. She gasps at the suddenness of the gesture, but gradually falls into the sense of warmth and security being with the Uzumaki boy usually gave her.

These feelings washing over her gives her the thought that maybe things will be alright someday... Even if it was only for a brief moment...

--

Kaori arrives on school grounds a few minutes late because of the events that took place that morning between her and her sister. They didn't usually argue like that, but things have gotten so stressful lately that she couldn't help not to be a bit on edge.

She's had to work twice as hard to keep up in her studies because she's fallen so far behind everyone else in her class. Even with her studying all hours of the day, she's still not making any progress with improving her grades.

As she approaches the double doors leading into the building, she sees Iruka sealing off the doors. When he finishes, he turns around to leave, but bumps into the young girl instead.

"Oh! Hey, Kaori. I've been meaning to talk to you for awhile now, but you keep running off."

"Sorry. I've been busy taking care of my _sister_ lately..." she snarls bitterly without knowing she did it.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that your grades have been declining recently. Is there anything wrong?"

"It's nothing. My _sister's_ just been ill, so," she says, picking up her bag from off the ground, "what are you doing?"

Iruka inhales sharply and rubs his hands together, trying to find the right way to phrase his explanation.

"Kaori. The staff members had to go help out with funeral arrangements, so we have to shutdown the school for a few days."

"Funeral arrangements?? For who, Sensei?"

"Um," the man sighs and rubs the back of his neck, seeing that there was no easy way to reply to her question, "The Hokage... is dead, Kaori..."

"Dead?? What??"

--

"Naruto! You're late!" booms Jiraiya as the gennin warily enters the training grounds. His expression worn and sorrowful when he approaches his sensei.

"I'm sorry. There was something important I had to attend to first."

"What's more important than your training?"

"Urumi, she-- she was so close to--" the boy stammers frantically, burying his fingertips into his chest where his heart should be. His jacket was damp from Urumi's tears, which made him tighten his grip.

Jiraiya stares down at the distraught teen before him, waiting for him to finish his thought, "What happened?"

"She was going to kill herself because she was certain it was only way to stop Orochimaru." the blonde laments as he lowers his eyes to his feet.

The sannin plants a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing him to look up into the older man's face, "At least one good thing came out of this--"

"What the hell are you talking about?? She tried to take her own life! How is that a good thing??"

"Now we know she still possesses the will power to fight the curse. Urumi still has a chance to beat this."

Naruto's eyes brighten almost instantly after hearing Jiraiya's encouraging words. A smile begins to emerge upon his lips as the hand on his chest relaxes, "Do you mean it??"

"Of course I do, but remember, we're here for a reason." the older man says as he shoves a water balloon into the boy's arms.

Naruto nods and starts pawing at the rubber surface of the balloon, increasing his speed until it ruptures. Jiraiya chuckles and pats the boy firmly on the back, his body jerking forward with every swat.

"So I did good?"

"You bet!"

"Yea! Believe it! HA-HA!!" Naruto cheers excitedly as he punches at the air with his fists. The Toad Sage ruffles his hair in celebration before turning to leave. The Uzumaki boy immediately stops his cheering and rushes to catch up with his sensei, " Hey! What about the rest of my training??"

"Oh," Jiraiya glances over his shoulder, "I haven't had time to write my manuscripts since I've come back from my last research mission. My publisher is going to kill me if I don't send him something soon."

"What does that have to do with my training??"

"We're going to have to postpone your training for alittle bit, okay? Even if I wanted to train you, Sarutobi-sensei's funeral is tomorrow."

"Right..." Naruto sighs, watching Jiraiya disappear through the shrubbery surrounding the training grounds with a subtle but noticeable frown on his face.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Third Hokage's funeral is today, and the sky couldn't be any darker. Gray clouds threatening rain loom over the village which were accompanied by cold, shrill winds.

As for the villagers, there wasn't a smiling face visible amongst them as crowds began they're heavy-hearted march to the burial grounds. Every face stained with hot tears-- Konohamaru one of the most severe.

Ever since news got out about the death of his beloved grandfather, he hasn't been able to stop the massive waves of tears overflowing from his eyes. His classmates and everyone around him has noticed the change in his behavior. One of the most prominent of them having been Kaori.

"I lost someone very close to me as well," she says to him, "I lost my sister, and I'll never be able to see her again..."

--

Naruto knocks on the front door of his neighbor's apartment dressed in all black apparel. The thought of Urumi refusing to come keeps passing through his thoughts, but if it was the rumors she was afraid of wouldn't her absence just make the situation worse?

He knocks on the door harder, "Urumi! We're gonna be late if you keep this up--"

The wooden door slowly creeps open to reveal a very timid Urumi. Her eyes wide with fear as she shakes her head, tightly gripping the brass handle on the door. "I-I can't do this, Naruto."

The blonde stares at her in silence. He'd never seen her act this way before. Was she really this terrified?

He extends his arm out to her, a smile easing onto his lips. "You can do it. I'm here for you, okay?"

Urumi stares down at his hand, then studies his face without saying a word. Naruto closes his eyes and his smile broadens as a way to try and coax her out of hiding.

Eventually, a shaking hand extends out from the crack in the door and she takes his hand as she slips through the doorway. Naruto stares at her for a moment, noting how pale she looked enveloped in her black dress. She lowers her head and wraps her arms around herself, "I'm sick of everyone else staring, so I don't want you doing it either."

The blonde blushes and scratches his head, not realizing he was still staring. After a moment of silence, he clears his throat, "Sorry about that, but you look really pretty today."

Urumi's eyes dart up from the ground to the blonde's face as her cheeks tint pink. She shuffles her feet in circles, making loud scuffing sounds that ring throughout the corridor, filling the silence between them. "We should go..."

"...Right. The ceremony starts soon, so we'd better get going." he announces quickly, mentally scolding himself as he heads down the long walkway into town. She follows close behind him with her head held low, her hair shielding her from the on slot of glares coming from the other villagers.

Naruto grabs her wrist and begins walking faster through the crowd marching it's way into the burial grounds. He bulldozes his way through all the menacing faces in their path until they come to the top of the rise looking over the valley where the funeral was being held. Urumi pulls away from his grip as she shakes her head, sending beads of water flying through the air. "I can't do it," she laments backing up, "I'm sorry."

"Urumi, wait--" Urumi turns to retreat, but bumps into one of the village men. She looks up, but quickly averts her gaze as he scowls down at her, growling in disgust.

"You're that Makura, aren't you? You've got some nerve, you know that?"

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Naruto snarls angrily as he places a hand on the girl's shoulder.

The man smirks and pokes the boy square in the chest with his index finger. "And what are you going to do, Fox Demon?" he spits these words at the blonde as if they were venom.

Naruto glares up into the man's face, searching for a reason in his eyes as to not punch the living hell out of this jerk, but there wasn't one. All his anger was based off of rumors-- lies people have spread thoughtlessly throughout the village. It might have just been his feelings getting the better of his judgement, but he let him have it.

--

Just as the ceremony was about to begin, the rain falls harder. Looking around at all the villagers gathering around to giant podium housing their beloved Hokage's coffin, Naruto couldn't tell who was crying anymore. The drops of rain totally camouflage their tears.

One by one the villagers are allowed to give their last blessing to the Third before the ceremony began. Being in the center of this gathering, Naruto couldn't help but stare into the glowering faces of the people surrounding them.

Urumi tries her best to keep her head down, burying her chin in her chest to hide herself from the hatred ablaze in every one's eyes. She shuffles as close to Naruto as she possibly could, meshing herself into the damp fabric clothing him.

He reaches around and pushes the wet hair matted on her forehead out of her face, a warm smile ascending upon his lips. "You didn't do anything wrong, Urumi, so why are you hiding?"

She hesitates to lift her head up to him, vaguely noting the fact that she actually had to look up to be at eye level with the blonde. The corner of her mouth upturns slightly, if only for a moment. This catches him off guard, and he flushes red in the face.

Embarrassed, he averts his eyes away from her, hoping that she didn't notice him blushing. He dares to sneak a peek at her from the corner of his eye, accidentally meeting her gaze once again.

She continues to stare up at him, contemplating when the last time she's actually looked at him. She couldn't for the life of her remember... Naruto seemed like a completely different person now from when they first met.

He was sadder now. She could see it in his eyes no matter how much he smiled at her...

"Hey," Naruto whispers, breaking Urumi away from her thoughts, "isn't that your sister over there?"

Urumi scans the area around them, taking special care as not to look anyone directly in the eye. The blonde manually turns her head to the far side of the gathering.

In between the bodies of the villagers, she could see Kaori standing next to Konohamaru. The younger sibling just so happens to glance in her direction, only by chance linking eyes with her sister.

Kaori glares at her older sibling. Her eyes full of an emotion that Urumi wouldn't think she'd see in her sister-- Hate.

Urumi searches Kaori's face, trying to convince herself that there had to be a mistake. Kaori couldn't actually hate her, could she??

Before Urumi could find her answer, Kaori snaps her forward and follows her friend up to the podium.

--

It was awhile before it was time for Naruto and Urumi to come up to the podium and give their blessing. As they make their way up, Urumi could hear animus chatter between the villagers. She tries her best to ignore it, but the comments kept getting worse.

She quickens her pace, hoping it wouldn't be too long until they reached the podium where the Hokage's coffin rested.

"What is she doing here??" says one.

"How dare she show her face after what she's done!" says another.

Finally, they reach the end of the aisle. Urumi exhales deeply, realizing she'd been holding her breath the entire walk down to the podium.

--

A bell sounds in the distance, signaling the end of the funeral. Slowly, the villagers make their way back into town to continue their mourning. The rain hadn't let up at all since that morning, and since both Naruto and Urumi had left their apartments without any sort of protection from the weather, they were both soaked to the bone.

Urumi approaches the burial site of the Hokage, concentrating on the mass of bouquets covering his grave. Rain drops ping off the smooth surfaces of the flower petals and leaves as if fighting against the oncoming storm.

She wishes she had that kind of will power. That kind of strength.

"You decided to come after all." A voice says from behind her. She glances over her shoulder briefly then turns back to continue admiring the flowers.

"Yeah," she whimpers, her voice cracking. Urumi could hear the sound of rain bouncing off fabric in the midst of the silence.

"I just wish the others could have been here too."

"_Others_? What are you talking about?" Urumi asks turning completely around to face Kakashi. He taps the handle of his umbrella against his shoulder as he watches a woman pass by them.

Her flowing pink hair matting to her back as she makes her way through the rain to a grave towards the back of the valley.

They watch her for a moment as she replaces the wilting flowers on the grave with a fresh bouquet of pink roses. As she raises back to her feet, her shoulders begin to hitch. She hurriedly wipes her face with the back of her hand, despite the wet weather and leaves almost as quickly as she came.

When the woman was out of sight, Kakashi begins walking in the direction of the grave the woman was tending to. "Come on. I want to show you something."

Urumi takes a moment to check up on Naruto, who was talking with Kiba off to the side. She turns back to Kakashi and quickly hurries after him.

"What's over here that you need to show me?" she asks as she examines the surrounding tombstones they pass by. She doesn't wait for a reply. "Because I think one funeral is enough for one day."

Kakashi stops so abruptly that Urumi nearly rear-ends him because she was following him so closely. She allows herself to regain her balance before stepping out to the side to get a better look at the grave.

"Do you know whose grave this is?" "No, not exactly. Why?" Kakashi points at the headstone with his umbrella, motioning for her to take a look. Urumi squints at the words etched into the steel plate on the headstone, the rain blurring her vision.

She hunches over and pushes aside the fallen leaves obstructing her view. A lump forms in the back of her throat as she reads the words on the plate. _"Sakura..." _

"When she was found, it was reported that a hole had been blown through her skull."

"Who could have done this to her?"

"By the look of it, I'd say that it'd have to be someone who knew Chidori."

Urumi gazes up into the face of her sensei, disbelief apparent in her expression. She stares down at her hand on the headstone of her teammates grave. Her entire body begins to shake as she negotiates with herself, trying to convince herself that what she was thinking wasn't true.

But there was nothing there to disprove her thoughts...

"It was Sasuke, wasn't it?" she croaks, her throat dry and scratchy. The wind begins to pick up, whipping her wet hair into her face.

The roar of the wind completely drowns out Kakashi's wordless response. But she didn't need him to say anything at this point. Everything was confirmed by the look in his eyes at that very moment.

"Where is he?" she asks.

"No one really knows for sure." Kakashi replies, switching the umbrella into his other hand as he watches Urumi raise to her feet.

"Why are you telling me this now??" she exclaims as she glares at the older man in front of her. He takes in a long drag of air before answering her.

"I wasn't going to tell you at all, but I figured it was information that you needed to know. Better late than never."

She stares at him for a moment in total shock of the casualness in his voice. Without saying another word, she brushes past him and runs back to the front of the valley.

--

"Are the rumors about Urumi true?" asks Kiba in a hushed voice. He really didn't have much of an interest in the subject. He knew how the villagers talked, but he still couldn't get over his curiosity.

Naruto sends him a glare, "Where the hell is everyone getting this stupid idea from?! She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Well, no one really knows how the rumor got started, but no one is trying to deny it either. You can't really blame the villagers. I mean, they all know she has the marking of--"

Akamaru cuts him off by barking at a girl approaching from behind Naruto. Kiba glances over the blonde's shoulder, gazing into the pale face of Urumi. "Speak of the devil..."

"Shut up, Kiba! That's not funny!" Naruto scolds as Kiba throws up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean anything by it. I promise."

Naruto opens his mouth to comment, but Urumi cuts him short, "I'm ready to go back now..." she announces, her voice small against the harsh sounding winds.

The blonde turns around to face her, taken aback by her sullen expression. Naruto snaps his head back around to Kiba, his eyes narrowing with blame. "Hey, it wasn't me." the boy says in his defense as he shakes his head.

"Sure, I'll walk you home." Naruto says stiffly, using this time to send one more glare to Kiba before turning back around to Urumi.

They leave the valley to start their trek back to the apartment complex on the other side of town. During the walk home, Naruto couldn't help but notice her shivering. With no other solution, he wraps his arms around her, crossing his arms over her chest. He half expects her to push him away, but she doesn't.

They continue the rest of the way home this way until they get to Urumi's open apartment door. From the doorway, she could hear a conversation going on in the living room.

"You have to let her come with us, Auntie."

"I still have to think this over for alittle longer. I'm not too sure about this."

"Please!!"

Urumi looks back at Naruto, who was looking on over her shoulder. Once he was discovered, he takes a few steps back as a blush rises upon his cheeks.

"I think I can handle this on my own." she says, hinting him to leave. Naruto gets the point and nods before walking back out into town. He needed to find Pervy Sage to see about his training anyway.

After he leaves the corridor, Urumi enters the apartment. Her shoes squeak against the wooden floorboards. The talking stops as she approaches the couch to find two people sitting there.

The younger of the two appeared to be Konohamaru, but the older woman sitting beside him Urumi didn't recognize.

As the older Makura sister turns down the hall to Kaori's room, the woman pulls her nephew in close and whispers, "We'll take her home with us. I couldn't just leave that girl here with _that_."

Urumi stands in her sibling's doorway as she watches Kaori pack her suitcase, "So you're leaving?" she asks as Kaori spins around, only to token the teen with a glare.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" the younger girl snarls, stuffing clothing into her suitcase faster now.

"There has to be a reason for this, or you wouldn't be leaving." Urumi jaws, trying desperately to keep herself calm, despite what was happening.

"I'm failing my classes because of you. If I stay here I won't be able to reach my goal of becoming a ninja. I'm going to be the ninja you never were. Is that a good enough reason for you??"

Urumi's heart drops as her chest tightens, "Were you just going to leave without saying anything to me??"

"I don't owe you anything." Kaori snorts as she slams her suitcase shut. She starts for the door, but Urumi blocks it off. She was too outraged with the situation to remain calm any longer.

"Kaori, _my sister_," she stresses as she fights back tears, "can't we just talk about this?"

"I don't have a sister anymore! She died a long time ago!" the young girl yells as she pushes Urumi aside and rushes out into the living room to her _new family_.

The lone Makura crumbles to the floor in defeat. She sits in the doorway of the now empty bedroom, listening to the three of them leave the apartment. When she was sure that everyone was gone, hot tears begin to flow down her face.

At that very moment, she begins to question her reasons for stay in this place...


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The four ninja finally reach their destination beyond the border of the Leaf Village. Hidden in the marsh on the other side, a wooden shack of a house stands at the base of an overgrown oak.

Gaara makes a move towards the giant tree looming up above their heads. His siblings follow behind him as the red-headed shinobi releases the seal attached to the rough bark on the tree trunk.

Sasuke looks on in subdued amazement as the ground at the front of the shack begins to part with the front porch, revealing a set of stairs leading into darkness.

Gaara and Kankuro make their way down the seemingly infinite amount of steps and disappear into the blackness of the underground tunnel. Temari stands at the very top of the stairs, turning to face the motionless Uchiha.

"Are you just going to stand there like an idiot, or what?" she questions as she stamps a fist on her hip. She studies the teen's emotionless expression for a moment before heading down the stairs to meet up with her brothers.

Sasuke takes one last look into the forest, knowing there was no way he could ever go back to the Leaf. Now classified as a Rogue Ninja, if he ever did decide to return, he would surely face death.

From this point forward, it was either all or nothing.

--

The four of them walk down the long corridor, doors lining the walls. In between these doors, torch light up as they approach. Sasuke takes scarce breaths, unwilling to breathe in the air which was heavy with rancid odors. He studies the three Sand shinobi, who didn't seem to mind the horrid stench or the humid conditions.

Apparently, it wasn't there first time inside this place.

In the distance, Sasuke spots an ominous glow filling out the end of the tunnel. As they get closer, he could barely make out the shape of two, large double doors. A yellowish light streams through the slits at the base of the doors.

"What is this place?" Sasuke asks more to himself than to the others.

Kankuro looks back over his shoulder and grins at the Uchiha, "This is where Orochimaru does all of his experiments. But it wasn't always here. There was another place too--"

Temari punches him in the arm and frowns, "Are you trying to scare him away??"

Sasuke rolls his eyes as he tunes out the sibling's bickering. He continues to examine the walls of the corridor, trying to figure out what lay waiting on the other side of every door. Gaara says nothing. _Maybe he's used to them acting this way_, Sasuke thinks to himself.

Suddenly, Gaara's low voice interrupts the stillness in the air, silencing his brother and sister, "He's behind this door. I can feel it."

Temari opens the left double door and slips inside. Kankuro follows in behind her. Gaara glances back at Sasuke, who was already starting to make a move towards the door. "Stay out here. We have business with Orochimaru."

"Just let me get through. I didn't come all this way just to sit in the hall." Sasuke retorts, taking another few steps towards the door.

Gaara glares at the raven-haired gennin and before Sasuke could even blink, the Sand shinobi had him against the wall in a restraint of sand. Sasuke struggles for freedom, but his efforts prove useless.

"I'm not in the mood for your arrogance, Uchiha. Find your place or your blood will cover these walls as well." Gaara releases his strangle hold on the Uchiha and enters the room on the other side of the double doors.

Sasuke picks himself up off the ground, slightly dazed from the experience. He leans against the wall next to the doors, confident that if he even attempts to come through those doors, he'd never see the light of day again... Gaara would surely see to that.

So he takes contentment in just listening in on their meeting with Orochimaru.

"What took you so long, Gaara?" whispers Kankuro.

"I had to take care of a pest problem." Gaara grunts in his normal monotone voice, apparently not one for whispering.

Sasuke snorts angrily, "_Pest?? That dirty son of a_--"

"Are you saying you were followed here?" asks a voice Sasuke recognized to be Orochimaru. The sound of his voice sends shivers down the Uchiha's spine.

"Sort of." Temari chuckles airily, her smile quickly fading.

For a moment, the room grows silent. Only the sound of Orochimaru's heavy breathing lingers out through the doorway. Finally, the man speaks up, his voice low and bitter, "Who is it?"

"Does it matter? We did what you asked us to do, so stop terrorizing our village!" Kankuro explodes, his voice ringing out into the corridor.

"Before I can do that, I'd like for you to do one last thing for me." Orochimaru says, his voice abnormally calm.

"What is it?" asks Gaara idly, his interest in saving the Sand Village not as intense as his brother's. He didn't care much for the village anyway. Especially when he considers the inconceivable amount of mental and physical abuse he's had to endure over the years.

The villagers mean nothing to him, but since someday he'd have to rule over them as their Kazekage, he feels some sort of obligation to, at the very least, act like this held some interest in his mind.

"I'll give you the details after I meet our guest. That is, if you were nice enough to keep him alive, Gaara."

The future Kazekage glowers at the man sitting in front of him as he summons his sand from his gourd. The sand slithers out of it's protective case and pulls open the door, allowing the Uchiha entrance to the room.

Sasuke steps through the doorway and stands next to Gaara. They exchange hateful glances between each other before turning their attention back to Orochimaru.

The man's amber eyes glow brightly through the darkness surrounding him. He steps out into light provided by the torches hanging from the walls as a grin eases onto his face.

Sasuke notices the bandages around one of his arms, which appeared to be limp. He frowns, figuring it must have been from his last encounter with Urumi. He didn't think that jutsu of her's could be so powerful.

"May I ask for your name?" Orochimaru greets as he studies the dark-haired boy before him.

Sasuke gazes up into the man's pale face, his heart pounding heavily in his chest, "Sasuke," his voice cracks and he clears his throat, "Sasuke Uchiha."

A low chuckle escapes Orochimaru's throat as he licks his lips with his serpent-like tongue, deeply disturbing Temari. "_An Uchiha? Maybe he could be of some use to me. Especially with a kekkei genkai such as his_."

--

Back at the Leaf Village, Naruto stalks his sensei while he shops for groceries.

Earlier that day when he left his apartment, his original intention was to grab bite to eat at the Ichiraku ramen shop. He hadn't been there in awhile, so he wanted to pay his friends at the shop a visit. It also didn't hurt that he had a coupon for free ramen in his pocket.

After his third bowl, he notices Jiraiya exiting the grocery store with a brown paper bag under his arm. Curious to see if his sensei had made any progress with his manuscript, he hops down from his stool and shadows the white-haired ninja.

Currently, Naruto takes cover in a narrow alleyway as Jiraiya flirts with the clerk in the flower shop. The blonde peeks through the window to watch the Toad Sage crash and burn.

"Hi," the young woman greets warmly, looking up from her flower arrangement long enough to smile at Jiraiya, "and welcome to my shop. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Jiraiya smirks and approaches the counter. He lifts his elbow onto the counter top, resting his head in his open palm. He turns on his charm, ready to woo this girl. Regardless the fact she was, at the very least, fifteen years his junior.

"Hey, baby. How would a sweet flower like you fair on a night on the town with a catch like me?" Jiraiya asks as he winks at the girl behind the counter. The woman scowls at the sannin and slaps him in the face with a bouquet of roses.

"That's the third time this week you've come in here with those stupid pick-up lines! Get out of here before I get the broom again!" she scolds him, waving a firm finger in his face.

Jiraiya sighs and removes himself from the counter as he steps back towards the door, "Alright. If that's the way you feel, I'll be back tomorrow, Haruka."

"Ohnoyouwon't!" Haruka screams, her face tinting red as she slaps the handful of roses in her fist against the counter top.

Jiraiya blows a kiss to the fuming brunette behind the counter and slips through the door, barely missing a hit to the head by a couple of flying roses. He saunters down the street as he whispers a happy tune to himself.

Naruto leaves his post in the dark alleyway and shakes his head, sad to have to call that man sensei. He runs after the happy-go-lucky sannin, making sure to keep a good distance between the two of them.

Jiraiya goes to turn the corner two blocks down from the Haruka's flower shop and spots an orange blur dart behind a nearby fruitstand. He frowns and turns around, resting a fist on his hip, "Naruto. I know you've been tailing me, so you might as well come out."

"Aww! Pervy Sage! Can't we start my training yet??" whines Naruto as he emerges from behind the fruitstand. Jiraiya groans and raises his palm to his forehead in frustration.

"How many times do I have to remind you that I have a manuscript to work on??"

"As far as I can tell, you've done nothing but flirt!!" exclaims the blonde as he points an angry finger in the direction of the flower shop. The older man sighs heavily, throwing his head back.

"It's for research!"

"Come on! Just show me something! I don't care what it is!" Naruto pleads, his eyes wide and starry with hope as his bottom lip pokes out and begins to tremble slightly.

Jiraiya glances down at the orange clad ninja as he admits to himself that the boy really knew how to lay it on thick. He shakes his head and slumps his shoulders, "Alright. You win." he murmurs as a grin appears on Naruto's face.

"Yes!!" he cheers, grabbing onto the sannin's free arm as he pulls him towards the training grounds, "So what are you going to show me??"

Jiraiya remains silent as he thinks over the question. If he was really going to go through with this, whatever technique he chooses has to be something that Naruto couldn't possibly get down within the first few days.

A smug grin approaches the sannin's lips as an idea comes to mind. He chuckles quietly to himself, confident that this was his chance to get back at the blonde for pressuring him into this situation.

"I'll show you a chakra control technique."

Immediately Naruto's face cracks, his happy expression diminishing into a heap of horror. The blonde blinks a few times, uncertain of what his sensei was saying to him was true. The grin on the Toad Sage's face only broadens, adding to the gennin's dismay.

"You can't be serious?? Pervy Sage, you can't do that!"

"What is this I'm hearing?" Jiraiya gasps in mock surprise as he stoops down to Naruto's eye level, "I thought you said you didn't care what the training was."

"Yeah, but--" A loud crash cuts Naruto's complaint short as they approach the alley housing the Makura shrine. The gennin's blue eyes dart to the direction of the disturbance and he takes off into a sprint for the shrine without a second thought.

Naruto pushes back the beads concealing the chaos taking place inside the shrine. A group of drunken village men swing broken wood planks at everything in their path as they scream angry obscenities into the air. One of the men tears down the Makura clan emblem from the back wall and rips it apart as best as his fumbling hands would allow him.

The teen remains frozen in the doorway just watching in complete shock. Even he hadn't had to endure torment such as this. Much of the villagers just left him alone out of fear of the demon.

But this was just unbelievable. They're hatred for Urumi, which is based solely on a lie some shit had put out for no real reason, and this is what they do?

The men stop their rampage long enough to gather around the debris shattered over the floor. One of them, different from the one that tore down the emblem, pulls out a matchbook from his back pocket and lights it, tossing it onto the broken wood and rumpled pieces of fabric.

The debris instantly catches fire, the light radiating from the flame casting long shadows against the grinning faces of the men.

Jiraiya pulls Naruto aside from the doorway and hands the boy his bag of groceries. He searches around within its contains to find a carton of milk. He then enters the shrine and douses the flames with the white liquid, earning glares from the destroyers, "Get out of here you low-lives. I'm sure you have another bar around here to raid or something."

"An' what're you gonna do if we don't?" sneers the arsonist as he steps towards the Toad Sage, spitting his cigarette out at the sannin's feet.

Jiraiya looks down at the smoldering embers of the cigarette dissipate into ash as he says nothing.

The shredder chuckles and pats the arsonist on the back, "It looks like he's nothin' but a chicken." he slurs, his words barely understandable, but the smoker still chuckles in return.

Jiraiya finally lifts his eyes up from the cigarette and stares into the faces of the men, complete disgust apparent on his face. He grabs the smoker by his collar and flings him through the doorway, startling the blonde teen waiting on the other side.

Naruto jumps, dropping the bag of groceries on the ground as he lunges to the door, "Pervy Sage, what's going on??"

"Stay out of this. I can handle it." the sannin scolds as the trespassers turn their attention to the boy in the doorway and frown.

"Hey, that's that demon-boy whose always protectin'..." the shredder's words jumble into a knotted mess Naruto and Jiraiya can't understand.

"Yeah, only a demon would wanta protect 'nother demon." one of the two other accomplices pipes in, seeming to understand what his friend was trying to say.

Naruto growls as his fist just itches to connect with the man's face. His rage takes over and he charges the man, tackling him to the floor as his fist cranes back like a loaded spring.

The man throws his hands up over his face, the shock sobering him. "I'm sorry! We'll leave! Just get him off!" he pleads, frantically searching for forgiveness in Jiraiya's unyielding glare.

"Naruto," Jiraiya begins as the boy grumbles under his breath, already aware of his sensei's next words. He rises to his feet, pulling the man up along with him by his shirt. Naruto hurls him in the direction of the door.

"If I ever see your face again, I'll make sure mine is the last one you see."

The three men scurry out of the shrine, in their haste, they trip over their fallen man outside the door. When the coast was clear and the vandalizers had left, Jiraiya pins Naruto down against the back wall.

"I understand that you're upset about this, but you can't just go around socking people in the face because of it!"

"Hn."

"Is this what you think Urumi wants?" Jiraiya asks, finally provoking a response from the blonde, who gazes up into his face with a saddened expression.

"No,"

"She's already had to go through enough. I think the last thing you want to do is worry her because you keep picking fights."

Naruto chuckles at the thought. He just can't imagine Urumi sitting in her bed with the fear of Orochimaru lurking inside her, and all she can think of is his well being.

There was just too much going on for that to happen, but he nods in agreement with his sensei anyway. He just didn't want to stay in this place anymore. He could hardly breathe in the smoggy air hanging over the room.

Jiraiya releases Naruto from his grip and the boy pulls away from the wall, revealing a hidden seal. The sannin studies it carefully as Naruto sits in the doorway, the cool breeze blowing in his face feels refreshing compared to the staleness inside the shrine.

He glances down at the grocery bag he had thrown to the side earlier. All of his sensei's groceries sprawled on the ground.

"Pervy Sage, I'm sorry to say this, but it looks like you're going to have to go shopping again. I kinda dropped your stuff and nothing seems salvageable." the gennin announces, glancing inside to see Jiraiya's expression. He figured if he could get enough of a rise out of him, they could finally leave this place, but nothing seemed to faze him.

"Did you ever notice this seal here?" Pervy Sage asks, as if Naruto hadn't said a word. The boy groans and enters the shrine again to see what his sensei was talking about.

"What seal?"

Jiraiya points to the wall, "This one. It seems to have some kind of genjutsu effect on it. I wonder if it's trying to hide something..."

Naruto shrugs as he tries to suppress his urge to grin, "Well, there's only one way to find out."

The Toad Sage releases the genjutsu and a door slowly begins to appear. They exchange surprised glances before Naruto takes the liberty of opening the door.

Naruto descends the curved staircase into the darkness first and freezes at the bottom of the steps to allow his eyes to adjust to the blackness. He coughs and waves a hand in front of his face to clear the dust and dirt away.

Jiraiya comes down the steps and stands next to his student in silence.

"What's this place suppose to be?" asks the teen, his voicing echoing throughout the void of black that surrounds them.

"The birthplace of the Makura clan..."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Naruto and Jiraiya kneel in the dim light of a lone lantern as they stare out into the darkness around them. Neither of them say a word to each other, too stunned from the sight before them.

Jiraiya finally rises to his feet and grabs the lantern, walking out into the center of the room to thumb through the heap of ash and debris laying there. The loose ash floats up into the stale, smoggy air as Naruto watches him from the base of the stairs with narrowed eyes.

"We should probably tell someone about this place." the sannin says, finding nothing in particular within the heap to bring back to the village officials to analyze.

Naruto shoots up to a stand position and shakes his head, "No, we can't do that!"

Jiraiya turns to look at the blonde and frowns, "And why the hell not? Don't you think the village should know about this?"

The gennin grimaces as he snorts a chuckle, "Yeah, so they can use whatever they salvage from this place to use against Urumi?"

The older man's face softens as he realizes the truth in Naruto's words. If they were to turn in any information from here, what's there to say that the village wouldn't use it against Urumi, who most of the villagers hated now anyway.

He stands and dusts himself off, shaking his head at his own ignorance. He picks up the lantern and returns to the staircase as he holds the light up to the boy's face to make sure Naruto sees the seriousness on his.

"We can't tell anyone about this. Not even Urumi, and I mean it, Naruto."

"Why can't she know?"

"Do you think she wants to be reminded of this??" Jiraiya begins, his eyes ablaze with anger. Naruto could tell that it wasn't directed at him, but at the source of every one's frustrations; Orochimaru.

"She has to wake up everyday knowing that the sole reason she's this way is because of some twisted experiment of Orochimaru's!"

A growl roars up from somewhere within the blonde and he steps towards the man, "She doesn't deserve to be left in the dark about her own past!" he blurts, immediately lowering his head afterwards. He continues on with a soft voice, "Sooner or later she's going to have to cope with it. Coming to this place will be her first steps to that."

Jiraiya stares down at the gennin with wide eyes, taken aback by his statement. He's just full of surprises today.

"Fine," he sighs as he begins to ascend the stairs, "do as you wish."

Naruto takes a moment to look over the abandoned laboratory once more before scampering up the steps behind his sensei.

Once they return to the shrine and reseal the door, Naruto clears his throat. "About the training... do you think we can hold off on it until another time?" he asks the sannin with pleading eyes.

Jiraiya nods and pats him on the back, giving him the benefit of the doubt. "It has been a long day, and the worst part about it is that it just started..."

The boy allows himself a small smile of gratitude, "Thank you, sensei."

"Yeah, but you owe me some groceries!" Naruto nods and exits the shrine, leaving the Toad Sage to his own devices as he heads back to the apartment complex.

On the way, he considers to tell Urumi about shrine and the secret door, but thinks better of it. He wouldn't know what to say to her or how she'd react to the news.

_Maybe I'll just tell her later. I need some time work out what I'm gonna say anyway_, he thinks to himself.

In the meantime, he decides to drop in on Urumi to check up on her. He hasn't seen her since the funeral, so he wanted to make sure she was alright before heading back to his place for a well-needed nap. The morning's events are really starting to take a toll on him. He couldn't remember ever being so worn out before.

Naruto rounds the corner leading into the corridor of the apartment complex and stops in front of Urumi's door. He knocks on it a few times but evokes no response from within. He reaches out his hand for the door handle to check if Urumi had left it unlocked, but stops short when the door flies open.

"Kaori you're--" the kunoichi freezes when her gaze connects with the blonde's. Her expectant smile quickly changes into a frown as she leans against the door frame in disappointment.

"Oh," she laments, her gaze drifting away from the pained expression of the boy. He watches her eyes, now hazy and red as they focus on nothing in particular.

He forces himself to smile as he rubs the back of his neck, "I know I'm not Kaori, but--" he chuckles, his voice fading as she snaps out of her daze and their eyes connect again.

"I'm sorry, I was just expecting... someone else." she apologizes with a voice hoarse from crying.

"Kaori, I assume?" Naruto asks as he props himself against the wall. Urumi nods and steps out into the corridor, closing the door behind her. "Yeah, she hasn't..."

Naruto tilts his head, waiting for her to continue on with her thought, but she lowers her head and says nothing.

"What happened to Kaori?" Naruto prompts, trying his best to coax an explanation from the girl.

She stifles back some tears and tucks her hair behind both of her ears, hiding the fact she was actually wiping away tears that had slipped through her defenses.

"She moved out. She wants absolutely nothing to do with me."

Naruto frowns and lowers his gaze to the floor as he crosses his arms over his chest, casting them into a realm of silence.

"I'm sorry. I know it must be tough for you." he says in an effort to console his friend. She waves it off and removes her eyes from her feet to look up into the blonde's face. She raises an eyebrow at the soot that had accumulated on Naruto's soft features, "You're face is pitch black. What exactly have you been up to?"

Naruto wipes at his cheek and stares down at his hands to find his fingertips blackened with ash. He smiles sheepishly and wipes his hands on his pant legs. "Oh, n-nothing special really."

Urumi shakes her head, dismissing the suspicious break in his voice and approaches him as she reaches for the hem of her over-sized shirt. She stands on the balls of her feet as she gently wipes away the soot on Naruto's face.

The orange clad gennin blushes tomato red under her touch. Urumi leans forward slightly to rub at his temples, absentmindedly pressing her bare stomach into Naruto's crossed arms, which he still holds tightly to his body.

A wave of heat surges through him from the point of contact. He couldn't recall ever being this close to her before. Ever since Orochimaru slithered his way into the picture, Urumi completely shut herself away from him.

He knew it was only because she wanted so desperately to protect him from all this, but it still scared him. He was afraid of losing her, and most importantly, afraid of never getting his chance at telling her about how he feels.

Naruto's arms begin to tremble and he grabs onto Urumi's arms, startling her enough to drop the hem of her shirt. She gasps at the sight of Naruto's tear-rimmed eyes and lowers her head to his hands, unsure of what to say. She'd never seen him so vulnerable before.

Urumi glances up again after a moment with what resembled a small smile, "You look much better now, wouldn't you say?" she chuckles awkwardly in a way that Naruto couldn't help but smile at.

It's been awhile since he's seen a genuine smile on her face that he almost had forgotten how beautiful she was when she did.

"Yeah, so do you," he grins as he pulls Urumi into an embrace.

She buries her face into his chest to hide her blushing face from his sight. Naruto tightens his arms around her waist, slowly easing Urumi into a state of comfort. She finally gathers enough courage to circle his neck with her arms, her fingers intertwining with the small locks of hair cascading down the nape of his neck.

He breathes in sharply, trying to cope with Urumi's ice cold hands. He shudders and nestles his chin into her shoulder as he basks in the joviality of the moment.

His cheek brushes against the side of her neck as he pulls her even closer. "I love you," he mumbles unknowingly into her shirt collar.

The second these words fall from his lips, he immediately recoils. He curses himself under his breath as she steps back to try an register what she thought she heard. Naruto tries desperately to camouflage his trepidation but fails to mask it completely.

"What did you say?" she asks, her eyebrows arched in curiosity as she studies the frantic blonde carefully.

Sweating bullets at this point, Naruto sorts through his racing thoughts for something to say to change the subject. He wasn't ready to spill his heart out just yet...

He clears his throat and sputter, "I-I was um," he wipes the sweat from his brow and attempts to appear as innocent as possible, "wondering if you've seen Sasuke or Sakura anywhere lately. I haven't run into either of them for awhile."

Urumi narrows her eyes at him, "You don't know?" she snorts in a tone resembling anger and shock. It couldn't be that she was the only one Kakashi told about Sasuke's disappearance and Sakura's death.

"No," Naruto says, somewhat confused by Urumi's reaction, "do you?"

Urumi combs her fingers through her bangs and turns her head towards the mouth of the corridor as she bites her lip, _Why would Kakashi-sensei keep this from him?_

"Is there something wrong, Urumi?" Naruto asks, his voice mirroring the concern in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, she returns her gaze to him as she contemplates telling him about the whereabouts of their teammates. However, if Kakashi's reasoning for not telling Naruto was legitimate, would it be wrong for her to go behind her sensei's back to tell him anyway?

_But he still deserves to know--_

"Urumi?" Naruto repeats, his worry escalating from her silence.

She stares into his wide, fearful eyes and finally comes to a decision, "Naruto," she laments as she inhales deeply, "there's something I have to show you."

--

Tsunade stands on a platform beneath the monument of the late Hokage's as she looks over the village she is being pressured to rule. She leans forward against the railing surrounding the perimeter and breathes in the cool, afternoon air which happens to be much more pleasant compared to the stuffiness of the Uzumaki's apartment.

"I didn't expect to find you here."

The female sannin spins around to meet the gaze of Jiraiya. Her brow furrows as she scowls, "I didn't expect you to be looking for me."

The man shrugs and saunters across the platform to Tsunade then leans his back against the railing. He folds his arms over his chest and stares up into the hazy clouds hovering in the sky. He says nothing for the longest time to much of Tsunade's displeasure.

Her shoulders hunch forward as she slouches over the railing, "You came here for a reason. Hurry up and spit it out already." she grumbles angrily, finding the Toad Sage's presence quite irritating.

"They chose you because they felt you were the most qualified for the position," he begins, never once removing his gaze from his view of the afternoon sky.

She scoffs and shakes her head, "_Qualified_? I seriously doubt that,"

"How would you know if you haven't even tried?"

"Don't even start with that bullshit!" Tsunade grunts as she narrows her eyes at the man beside her.

"If you keep running away like you are, this village will likely perish from the mortal danger we're being faced with." The woman lowers her head and says nothing in response.

Jiraiya takes this chance to continue on with his reasoning, "Even when faced with the fate of the Leaf Village, you are still unwilling to become Hokage, I'll let you leave with no questions asked."

She gazes up at him, his eyes cold and stern. There was no question of the seriousness of his statement.

Here lies an opportunity to escape from the pressures of her destined duties as Hokage and return to the life she once had, however; if she decided to stay and she truly couldn't handle the position--

Tsunade shakes her head and shuts her eyes tightly from her fears of failure. Jiraiya takes notice to her internal struggle and pats her gingerly on the shoulder with a firm hand, "I'll give you some time to think about it."

He makes a move to leave but Tsunade turns to face him, "I've already made my decision," she states, her expression indecipherable to the man.

She brushes pass him and descends the staircase. Jiraiya watches her back fade into the hustle of the streets below without a clue as to what fate might befall the village.


End file.
